American University
Washington DC
1893
Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): red/white/blue (1917-1935)
The chapter on American academic hoods in the 1927 edition of Frank Haycraft’s The Degrees and Hoods of the World’s Colleges and Universities included a summary of the 1895 Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume and a long list of schools, each with a description of its hood lining provided by the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC).
The hood lining for the American University was described as “bright red above, Yale blue below”, with a white chevron in between. The IBAC tended to use “bright red” to describe scarlet and “Yale blue” to describe a dark blue. “Bright red” is not consistent with the shade of red on the US flag, so here a more accurate medium shade of red has been used.
The national colors of the United States were adopted as the school colors when American University was founded in 1893. In 1925 the university’s Athletic Association chose orange and blue as the sporting colors of the university. So today the academic colors of the American University are red, white, and blue, and the athletic colors of the university are orange and blue.
“Custom doctoral regalia” for the American University is available from Oak Hall. This blue gown has red velvet facings and sleeve bars edged with white piping, and can be worn in lieu of the traditional black doctoral gown. The American University logo is embroidered on the upper part of each facing. It is not known when this special gown was authorized by the university.