Academic scarf

This snowman has been dressed in a college scarf belonging to a member of Churchill College, Cambridge.

The wearing of academic scarves is a tradition found at many colleges and universities in English-speaking countries, and particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sets of two or more coloured stripes have traditionally been used as part of the distinctive visual identity of these institutions. The scarves are usually made of Saxony wool and traditionally 6 feet (c. 2m) long.

The colours are often derived from the colours of the official coat of arms and/or the varsity colours, and are used in clothing and symbols of all kinds, from ties to trophies, but notably in the long woollen winter scarves that students and alumni wear to show their pride in their institutions. Some universities have different scarves for different faculties and even for undergraduates and postgraduates. Some may even have a 'combination scarf' where one side is in the university's colours and the other the faculty, etc. colours. Traditionally, academic scarves would not have further embroidery on them, such as arms or logos, as the stripes are sufficient to identify the scarf's origins and affiliation; however, at some universities such as Cambridge it has become usual for scarves to be embroidered with the college arms. Furthermore, universities might change their design and colours from time to time, usually during re-branding exercises, or if there isn't an 'official' version that has been widely used.

At some universities, in addition to collegiate scarves, there are also several non-collegiate scarves which have a well-established meaning. For example, those representing the university in sport may be entitled to wear a particular scarf, depending on their level of achievement, or a university department or club may have its own scarf. In addition, some colleges and universities have (for example) separate scarves for senior clubs such as their Boat Clubs.^[b]

Academic scarves are to be distinguished from other types of scarves that are officially sold by the institution themselves which often use different colours and are embroidered with logos and other emblem, or designed/made differently to traditional academic scarves.

Australia

La Trobe University

La Trobe University

University of New England

Austin College	Drummond and Smith College	Earle Page College

University of Tasmania

Christ College	Jane Franklin Hall	St. John Fisher College

Canada

University of Toronto
St. Michael's College	Trinity College

Ireland

University of Dublin

University Sporting Pink	Trinity College	Trinity College Dublin Association and Trust (Alumni)
Dublin University Boat Club	Dublin University Bicycle Club	Dublin University Cricket Club
Dublin University Croquet Club	Dublin University Equestrian Club	Dublin University Football Club (Rugby Union)
Dublin University Hockey Club	Dublin University Ladies' Boat Club	Dublin University Lawn Tennis Club
Dublin University Rifle Club	Dublin University Swimming Club	Central Societies Committee
University Biological Association ('The Bi') (Medical)	University Philosophical Society ('The Phil')	University of Dublin Choral Society
Dublin University Geographical Society	Dublin University Speech and Language Pathology Society	Dublin University Physiotherapy Society
Dublin University History Society	Dublin University Engineering Society	Dublin University Law Society
Dublin University Pharmaceutical Society	College Theological Society ('The Theo')	College Historical Society ('The Hist')

National University of Ireland

Other NUI Constituent Universities

National University of Ireland, Maynooth	National University of Ireland, Galway	University College Cork

University of Limerick

University of Limerick

Dublin City University

Dublin City University

New Zealand

University of Otago

The term scarfies is often used in and around Dunedin, the site of the University of Otago, as a slang term for university students.

United Kingdom

University of Birmingham

	University of Birmingham
College of Arts and Law	College of Social Sciences	College of Life and Environmental Sciences
College of Engineering and Physical Sciences	College of Medical and Dental Sciences	Faculty of Science

University of Bristol

Arts	Engineering	Law
Medicine	Sciences	Social sciences
Union

University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge [b]
	Scarf colours: three equal stripes of Cambridge blue and navy, with navy in the middle on one side of the scarf, and Cambridge blue in the middle on the other
Christ's College	Churchill College	Clare College
Scarf colours: brown, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes	Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of brown edged with pink	Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced narrow yellow stripes
Clare Hall	Corpus Christi College	Darwin College
Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of red edged with yellow	Scarf colours: cherry pink, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes	Scarf colours: blue, with two equally-spaced narrow sets of three adjacent red, Cambridge blue and yellow stripes, with the red stripes closest to the edge of the scarf, and the yellow stripes closest to the centre
Downing College	Emmanuel College	Fitzwilliam College
Scarf colours: black, with three narrow magenta stripes	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced narrow rose pink stripes	Scarf colours: maroon, with two equally-spaced narrow grey stripes
Girton College	Gonville and Caius College	Homerton College
Scarf colours: green, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of red edged with white	Scarf colours: four equal stripes alternating black and Cambridge blue	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes
Hughes Hall	Jesus College	King's College
Scarf colours: light blue with three equally-spaced narrow stripes, the outer stripes of Cambridge blue and wider, the central stripe of white and narrower	Scarf colours: three equal stripes of red and black, with red in the middle on one side of the scarf, and black in the middle on the other	Scarf colours: royal purple, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes
Lucy Cavendish College	Magdalene College	Murray Edwards College
Scarf colours: eight alternating stripes of black and blue of varying width, with wide black and narrow blue stripes transitioning towards narrow black and wide blue stripes across the face of the scarf	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced narrow lavender stripes	Scarf colours: three equally-spaced narrow stripes separating two black areas towards the edge and two blue areas in the middle, the outer stripes of yellow and the central stripe of red
Newnham College	Pembroke College	Peterhouse
Scarf colours: grey, with a central broad band of navy, itself divided in two by a narrow gold stripe	Scarf colours: dark blue, with two equally-spaced narrow Cambridge blue stripes	Scarf colours: four equal stripes alternating white and blue
Queens' College	Robinson College	St Catharine's College
Scarf colours: dark green, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes	Scarf colours: from one edge of the scarf to the other, the first third grey, then three equal stripes of blue, gold and grey, and then the final third blue	Scarf colours: burgundy, with narrow pearl pink stripes
St Edmund's College	St John's College	Selwyn College
Scarf colours: blue, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of Cambridge blue edged with white	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of Cambridge blue edged with red	Scarf colours: maroon, with three narrow gold stripes through the middle, the central stripe slightly narrower than others
Sidney Sussex College	Trinity College	Trinity Hall
Scarf colours: two equal halves of dark-red and navy	Scarf colours: navy, with three equally-spaced narrow stripes, the outer stripes of yellow and slightly narrower, the central stripe of red and slightly wider	Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes
Wolfson College	Postdocs of Cambridge (PdOC)
Scarf colours: red, with two equally-spaced narrow golden stripes edged with white	Scarf colours: five equal stripes of Cambridge blue, royal purple, white, royal purple again, and Cambridge blue again

Sports colours

Full Blue	Half Blue	Roos
Tadpoles	Riding team	Rifle team
Hawks' Club	CUTwC	CU Bowmen
CURPC	CUGCR

University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow
Arts	Dentistry	Divinity
Engineering	Law	Medicine
Nursing	Science	Social Sciences
Veterinary Medicine

Newcastle University

Newcastle University
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)	Newcastle University Medical School	Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering (SAGE)

University of Oxford

Balliol College	Blackfriars	Brasenose College
Scarf colours: navy, with two equally spaced triple-stripes of white, purple and white again		Scarf colours: black, with two narrow yellow stripes a fifth of a scarf-width in from either edge
Campion Hall	Christ Church	Corpus Christi College
	Scarf colours: navy, with two sets of narrow triple stripes a quarter scarf-width in from either edge, each set of triple stripes of red, white and brown from left to right	Scarf colours: five equal stripes alternating navy and dark red, with navy at the edges and in the centre
Exeter College	Green Templeton College	Harris Manchester College
Scarf colours: black, with two purple stripes each a quarter of the scarf wide, separated from one another by a central black area itself a quarter of the scarf wide	Scarf colours: navy, with a wide central stripe of green, and a narrow yellow stripe through each of the navy areas to either side	Scarf colours: navy, with a wide central stripe of red, and a narrow yellow stripe through each of the navy areas to either side
Hertford College	Jesus College	Keble College
Scarf colours: burgundy, with two narrow stripes of red lined with white a quarter scarf in from either edge	Scarf colours: green, with a central narrow white stripe, and two slightly thinner white stripes one fifth of a scarf-width in from either edge.	Scarf colours: navy, with two red stripes a fifth of a scarf-width in from either edge, each stripe divided by a white pinstripe
Kellogg College	Lady Margaret Hall	Linacre College
Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced stripes of medium-blue edged with white	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced stripes of yellow, each edged with a thinner stripe of white on the left-hand side only	Scarf colours: two equally-spaced thin yellow stripes separating the outer two-thirds of black and the central third of grey
Lincoln College	Magdalen College	Mansfield College
Scarf colours: dark blue, with two pairs of sky-blue tramline stripes one quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge	Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced wide bands of white	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced pairs of thin tramline stripes, the left pinstripes in each pair of yellow and the right of red
Merton College	New College	Nuffield College
Scarf colours: purple, with two narrow white stripes a quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge	Scarf colours: brown, with two equally-spaced narrow white stripes	Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced stripes of dark-red edged with yellow
Oriel College	Reuben College	Pembroke College
Scarf colours: dark blue, with two equally-spaced pairs of narrow white tramlines		Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced stripes of grey edged with pearl-pink
The Queen's College	Regent's Park College	St Anne's College
Scarf colours: navy, with a wide band of white through the centre, and a white pinstripe through each of the two remaining navy areas		Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced stripes of red edged with grey
St Antony's College	St Benet's Hall	St Catherine's College
Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced wide bands of yellow, and a thin red stripe through each yellow band		Scarf colours: maroon, with two equally-spaced narrow stripes of purple edged with sky-blue
St Cross College	St Edmund Hall	St Hilda's College
Scarf colours: navy, with two narrow double-stripes a quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge, the left of each double-stripe of white and the right of purple	Scarf colours: maroon, with two equally-spaced mustard pinstripes	Scarf colours: navy, with three equally-spaced stripes of white
St Hugh's College	St John's College	St Peter's College
Scarf colours: Two narrow double-stripes a fifth of a scarf-width in from either edge, the left of each double-stripe of white and the right of yellow, with the background areas to the left of each double-stripe of blue, and to the right of black, such that a black and a blue area meet in the centre of the scarf.	Scarf colours: black, with three equally-spaced thin stripes, the central stripe of red and the outer stripes of yellow	Scarf colours: green, with two narrow yellow stripes a quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge
St Stephen's House	Somerville College	Trinity College
	Scarf colours: red, with two equally-spaced narrow black stripes	Scarf colours: navy, with two narrow white stripes a quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge
University College	Wadham College	Wolfson College
Scarf colours: navy, with two narrow yellow stripes a quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge	Scarf colours: black, with two grey-blue stripes a quarter of a scarf-width in from either edge, each stripe edged with a yellow pinstripe on the right-hand side only	Scarf colours: navy, with two equally-spaced stripes of red edged with yellow
Worcester College	Wycliffe Hall
Scarf colours: black, with two equally-spaced pearl-pink stripes

Sports colours

Full Blue	Half Blue	Vincent's Club

Queen's University Belfast

Queen's University Belfast
Graduate	University colours	Queen's University Belfast Boat Club
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences	School of Law	School of Medicine and Dentistry

Scarf colours of former UK universities

Victoria University of Manchester		UMIST

United States

Scarf colors of US High Schools

Phillips Academy

See also

• List of rowing blades – School and university