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🎓

🎓 Graduation Cap Emoji

Meaning

The graduation cap emoji (🎓) — also known as the mortarboard or academic cap — represents education, graduation ceremonies, and academic achievement. The distinctive flat-topped cap with a tassel is worn at graduations from high school through PhD level. Online, 🎓 appears in congratulatory messages, graduation captions, student identity posts, and any context celebrating educational milestones or intellectual topics.

Graduation Cap with Tassel Emoji

The 🎓 graduation cap emoji includes the iconic tassel — the hanging cord that marks an important moment in every ceremony. Before graduation, the tassel is traditionally worn on the right side of the cap. During the ceremony — after receiving the diploma or at a designated moment — graduates move the tassel to the left. This tassel turn signals the official transition from student to graduate. The exact timing varies by school, but the right-to-left move (in the United States) is the standard convention. The 🎓 emoji captures the mortarboard-and-tassel combination as a single symbol for all graduation milestones.

Graduation Hat, Mortarboard, and PhD Graduation Hat

The 🎓 emoji goes by several names depending on context. The most common names are graduation cap, graduation hat, and mortarboard — all referring to the same flat-topped square academic cap with a tassel. At the PhD level, the traditional cap is still a mortarboard, though some PhD programs and European universities use a tam — a soft, round velvet cap worn by doctoral graduates. There is no separate PhD graduation hat emoji in Unicode. The 🎓 emoji represents all levels of academic graduation equally, from high school through doctorate. The academic mortarboard cap has been part of graduation ceremonies since the 15th century.

How to Use

  • •Celebrating your own graduation: "Finally done 🎓" or "Degree secured 🎓"
  • •Congratulating a friend or family member on their graduation
  • •Posts about studying, assignments, or student life
  • •Referencing a PhD, master's degree, or any academic milestone
  • •Graduation captions for photos with friends and family

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the graduation hat emoji called?▾
The graduation hat emoji 🎓 is officially called the graduation cap in Unicode. The physical hat it represents is called a mortarboard — a flat square-topped academic cap with a tassel attached to the top. It is also sometimes called an academic cap or academic hat.
Is there a PhD or graduation gown emoji?▾
No standalone PhD or graduation gown emoji exists in Unicode. The 🎓 graduation cap covers all levels of graduation — undergraduate, master's, PhD, and honorary degrees. For posts about gowns, you can pair 🎓 with 👔 or describe the occasion in text alongside the emoji.
What does the graduation cap emoji mean in a text?▾
The 🎓 graduation cap emoji usually means someone graduated, is a student, or is celebrating an academic achievement. It can also be used lightheartedly by anyone claiming expertise on a subject — a joking way of saying "I know this." Context makes the meaning clear.
What do you call the hat with the tassel?▾
The academic hat with a tassel worn at graduation ceremonies is called a mortarboard. In emoji form, the mortarboard is represented by 🎓. The tassel is traditionally moved from one side to the other during the ceremony to mark the transition from student to graduate.
What side does the graduation tassel go on?▾
In the United States, the tassel starts on the right side of the mortarboard before the ceremony. At a designated moment — usually after diplomas are received — graduates move the tassel to the left. The right-to-left tassel turn is the traditional signal that you have officially graduated. Some schools have their own timing, so always follow your ceremony's instructions.
Is 🎓 a graduation cap, mortarboard, or PhD graduation hat?▾
All three — the 🎓 emoji represents the same hat known by all three names. The graduation cap and mortarboard are identical objects: the flat-topped square academic cap with a tassel. At PhD level, some programs use a tam (a soft round cap) instead of a mortarboard, but there is no separate PhD cap emoji in Unicode. 🎓 covers all academic graduation levels.
Is there a pink graduation cap emoji?▾
No. There is only one graduation cap emoji in Unicode: 🎓, which appears in the standard yellow/black academic cap color. Pink, royal blue, purple, or other colored graduation cap and gown combinations are school-specific ceremonial choices — they are not separate Unicode emojis. To indicate a color, describe it in text alongside 🎓.
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