Sweet Briar College

Virginia

1901

official hood lining pattern
A 1901 mug illustrating Sweet Briar College's dark shade of green.

Citations in the World Almanac (listed by cover date; color information is from the previous year): rose/green (1923-1931); pink/green (1934-1935)

The Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC) assigned Sweet Briar College a hood lining at some point between 1906 and 1927, when it first appeared in an IBAC hood list. There the college’s hood lining was described as dark green with a pink chevron. The college’s hood lining is strikingly beautiful, perfectly echoing the appearance of the sweetbriar rose bush, where the dark green leaves are the dominant color and the pink petals of the roses are the accent color. A 1969 IBAC list modified the description of Sweet Briar’s chevron to “light pink”, but the true pink of the 1927 IBAC description better captures the shade of the college’s namesake. This may be why the Intercollegiate Bureau reverted to the original description of the college’s hood in a 1972 list.

pink
green

In 1906 the students of Sweet Briar College chose pink and green as their college colors because the sweetbriar rose was common on the plantation where the college was founded. The sweetbriar rose has petals that are pink and a fragrance like apples.

In 1960 the placement of the sleeve opening on American master's gowns was moved from the elbow to the wrist. Here is a painting of a female Master of Science graduate in a c.1965 Cotrell & Leonard catalogue.