To avoid assigning duplicate hood linings to colleges and universities that used the same school colors, the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC) used different types of heraldic patterns to divide the two or more colors in an academic hood. One of the heraldic divisions the Bureau occasionally employed was a “reversed chevron”. Here the standard chevron of between three and four inches in width was inverted so that the chevron pointed upwards.

The IBAC assigned Paine College a hood lining that was purple with a white “reversed chevron”, according to Intercollegiate Bureau lists from 1927, 1948, and 1972. Since the Bureau tended to abbreviate “royal purple” as “purple” in its lists, it is not certain whether the IBAC assigned purple or royal purple to Paine’s hood lining, but a list compiled by Kevin Sheard in and Academic Dress and Insignia of the World (1970) also described the college’s hood lining as purple with a white reversed chevron. Here Paine’s correct shade of royal purple has been used.