Will You Wear a Toga?

Graduation, or Pagtatapos in Filipino, usually happens in March, this month (or in some cases, the early part of April). It refers to the ceremonies or rites a student goes through after finishing a level of education.

Children first graduate from pre-school (after finishing kindergarten), then again from grade school (after finishing 6th or 7th grade), then again from high school. As adults, they graduate from college, then again from graduate school, then again from post-graduate school (doctors and lawyers, as examples).

Whew! So many graduation rituals, indeed!

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Some view a person as having truly graduated only if he has “marched” (nagmartsa in Filipino) onstage to accept his diploma during the graduation ceremonies.

Yes, graduation is considered a coming-of-age ritual or an important milestone for young Filipinos.

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Years and years ago, elementary school and high school graduates usually wore white: white dresses for girls and white polo shirts and black pants for boys. This was also the same attire for kindergarten graduates, except that girls usually wore identical dresses in a style agreed upon by the parents.

In recent years, the trend in graduation attire has been the toga (or robe) and cap (also called mortarboard, because it is similar to the hawk used by bricklayers to hold mortar).

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Underneath the toga, graduates wore beautiful, new formal clothes—like a party attire.

However, the Department of Education has recently called for austerity measures, prohibiting extravagant spending and requiring students to wear only their school uniforms under their togas.

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The toga in its earliest form was complicated in structure and was worn as a garment by Romans. They wore it in public and only took it off in the privacy of their home.

Through the years, the toga (with its drapes, pleating, and adornments) was simplified into a robe, but it remained the dress of Roman nobility. It also became the attire in formal rites in many countries.

There are many kinds of togas and they come in different colors—pure white, white with some purple or crimson stripes on its border, solid black, black with embroidery, solid crimson, solid purple with trims, or a combination of these.

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In the Philippines, however, the tradition has been: white toga for kindergarten, grade school, and high school graduates; black toga for college (and above) graduates.

Because the toga is a garment for formal ceremonies, judges wear them, too (often in black). If you have watched the televised impeachment proceedings, you will notice that the senators acting as judges are wearing togas or robes (minus the mortarboard) in crimson, or deep red. 

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So, are you graduating this month? Or do you know anyone who is?

If so, will you or they wear the toga and mortarboard? If you are to wear a toga (with the square cap), wear it with pride. The attire stands for a very important moment of your life, for which you and your parents worked hard.

As I end, I wish to congratulate all graduates. May your next step in life be just as eventful!

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