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Student Cap

In various European countries, student caps of different types are or have been worn, either as a marker of a common identity, as is the case in the Nordic countries, or to identify the bearer as member of a smaller corporation within the larger group of students, as is the case with the caps worn by members of German Studentenverbindungen.

The Finnish student cap tradition follows the Swedish model, like many other Finnish academic traditions. The Finnish student cap has an appearance similar to the Swedish version, but instead of coloured fabric cockade, it has a metallic, gold-colored cockade depicting the lyra of Apollon, the insignia of the University of Helsinki. The cap was introduced in its present form in 1870's. Until 1950's, the university students usually wore the cap during the whole summer holiday of the university, from Walburgis night until the end of september. Nowdays, the cap is used mostly during the 1st of May and in academic ceremonies and occasions. The cap is worn by all Finnish high school (lukio) graduates.

Until 1917, the matriculation examination was the entrance exam of the University of Helsinki, which meant that formally, all high-school graduates were, at least formally, students of the University of Helsinki. As a memory of that period, all new student cap have the cocakade of the Student union of the University of Helsinki. In many Finnish universities, the student union recommend that the students change the cockade into a university-specific one.

In late 19th century, the language strife between Swedish- and Finnish-speakers divided the Finnish academia. The size of the cockade was used to signal the student's opinion to the language question: the Swedish-speaking students wore a cockade with a diameter of 22 mm, moderate Finnish-speakers a 16 mm cockade and radical Finnish-speakers a 14 mm cockade. Even today, the Swedish-speakers use the 22 mm cockade, while the graduates of Finnish-speaking high schools use a 16 mm cockade.

The lining, i.e. the inside, of the cap symbolizes the regional identity of the graduate. Especially in earlier days, the students usually choose the lining to have the colours of their own student nations. Nowadays, the most typical lining is the white and blue, symbolizing common patriotism. However, the Swedish-speaking students usually wear red and yellow, or blue, yellow and white, while in Satakunta and North Karelia, the regional colours are still popular.

As in Sweden, the students of Engineering usually wear a special student cap (Finnish: teekkarilakki) with a long tassel. However, unlike in Sweden, the crown of the Finnish Engineering student cap is always white and the cap has a gold-coloured, university-specific cockade. The tassel is always black and worn without any additions. The lining of the engineering caps is dark red, symbolizing the social change brought about by the ever-advancing technology, except in Lappeenranta University of Technology, where Karelian colours, red and black, are used. The Engineering student caps are worn by present engineering students and graduate engineers on 1st of May and in academic ceremonies.

The Swedish student cap (studentmössa), used since the mid-19th century, normally has a white crown, a black or dark blue band and a black peak. At the front of the band is a cockade of blue and yellow, the colours of the Swedish flag.

In the Nordic countries, student caps were first adopted as a common mark of recognition by the students from Uppsala University on the occasion of a Scandinavian student meeting in Copenhagen in 1845. In the following years similar caps were adopted by the students at the other Swedish university (Lund) and by the students in Denmark, Norway and Finland. Caps of the same type are known to have been used by German students in the early 19th century, and it is possibly that the original impulse came from Germany.

Swedish student caps traditionally come in two main variants, named after the two universities in existence at the time of their original adoption. The Uppsala cap has a black band, blue and yellow lining and a somewhat soft crown, while the Lund cap has a dark blue band, red lining and a stiffer crown. The earliest student cap known to have been preserved, a mid-19th century Uppsala cap in the collections of the Nordic Museum but currently exhibited at the Uppland Provincial Museum (in Uppsala), is considerably softer and looser in style than the modern or even late 19th century caps.

The Uppsala cap is traditionally only worn only in summer, from Walpurgis Night until the end of September. In Lund, the white cap is also donned at Walpurgis and taken off in the fall, but students can exchange it for a winter variant with a dark blue crown during the rest of the year.

A major variation on the student cap is the one worn by engineering students, the teknologmössa, which has the same basic shape as the regular student cap but has a triangular flap hanging down on the right side ending in a tassel. The cap for engineering students usually come in dark winter and white summer versions. The tasseled cap originates at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, where it was first introduced in 1879, and is influenced by the Norwegian student cap, the duskelue, which from 1856 had a tassel; during the period of the Swedish-Norwegian union (until 1905) a large number of Norwegian students studied at Chalmers. It later spread to the Royal Institute of Technology and the other Swedish engineering schools.

Originally associated with completion of the studentexamen, the entrance examination to the universities, which was at the time of the original adoption of student caps always taken at the universities, the cap followed the studentexamen to the secondary schools when these took over the final examination of their students in 1864. After this point it was donned upon graduation by everybody who completed the studentexamen, whether they continued to university or not.

As the studentexamen in reality remained reserved for boys (and later girls) from the bourgeoisie, a very large proportion of whom did enroll at university, the conversion of the cap to a form of secondary school graduation cap did not in fact result in the cap losing its association with university students. To some extent this happened later, through the combination of two factors: firstly, the radicalism of the 1960s and 1970s, which influenced many students to stop using their caps (regarded as a sign of belonging to the bourgeoisie) or even burn them publicly. Secondly, the simultaneous (1968) reform of the secondary school system, through the abolition of the studentexamen and the introduction of a large number of secondary school programmes, many of which were vocational in character and not intended to prepare for higher studies but all frequently co-existing in the same schools.

The large number of new programmes introduced after 1970 also led to a proliferation of new types of student caps, such as the one with a red band (instead of the black or dark blue band of the traditional caps) used by students completing the two-year vocational programmes. With the caps now being used upon graduation by almost all secondary school students, and with many of the caps being more strongly associated with the secondary school attended than with the common identity as a Swedish student, as had originally been intended. Some of the graduates from vocational programme have variations in the colouring of the brim in accordance with their programme. Examples include burgundy for nursing, green for horticulture and blue for engineering (only on the Uppsala model). In addition, most hats also have a thin coloured hatband to signify the student’s programme. Colours include green for natural sciences, royal blue for social sciences and silver for construction. There are also schools that have their own variants of the Student cap with special insignia and or variations.

In Denmark, the student caps (studenterhue) are the last remains of the old school uniform of the University of Copenhagen[citation needed]. They came in two colours: black for the winter uniform [in the 1800s with black jacket and long black trousers] and white for the summer uniform. The caps are worn by students who have completed an upper secondary level education. The student cap is made by linen with a black brim and is supplied with a band and a cockade with a Dannebrog cross or other badge. The design varies after which exam it represents.

When this school uniform vanished in the late 1800s, the two caps came to denote two different kinds of studentereksamen: the classical-linguistic exam with the black student’s cap and the white for the modern language + mathematical exams. Both with a Bordeaux-coloured band.

When the student cap came out, it was only connected to studentereksamen (STX) which at that time was the only upper secondary level education there was, and was connected to a very high status, because very few people graduated. From the 1970’s three other upper secondary level educations were made. Higher Preparatory Examination (HF), Higher Commercial Examination Programme (HHX), and Higher Technical Examination Programme (HTX). From about 1990 there has also been student caps for other educations, including 10th grade and SOSU. More variants of the caps are still being developed with special coloured cords and badges, because more educations want their own cap.

 

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Himfr is a scholar, focusing his research on Chinese cultures. If you are interested in purchasing China goods, please visit www.himfr.com

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