Honor cords explained

An honor cord is a token consisting of twisted cords with tassels on either end awarded to members of honor societies or for various academic and non-academic achievements, awards, or honors.^[1] Usually, cords come in pairs with a knot in the middle to hold them together. Sometimes sashes, stoles, or medallions are given in place of cords. They are most often worn at academic ceremonies and functions. With cap and gown, and (sometimes) the hood, high school or university degree candidates have worn these cords at the discretion of the educational institution, but they are not usually worn with academic regalia after the academic year in which the honor was awarded. Unlike hoods and stoles, by tradition more than one cord may be worn at the same time.

At some universities, pairs of honor cords, in the school colors, indicate honors graduates: one pair for cum laude, two pairs for magna cum laude, and three pairs for summa cum laude. These are in addition to any cords for membership in an honor society.

List of collegiate honor society honor cords

(Mostly taken from The Association of College Honor Societies)^[2]

align=center	Honor society	align=center	Honor cord colors	Stole colors	Medallion colors
Alpha Beta Gamma		Sapphire Blue (Adviser, Gold)
Alpha Chi	Emerald Green and Sapphire Blue
Alpha Epsilon	Honor Gold or Blue and Green
Alpha Epsilon Delta	Red and Violet
Alpha Epsilon Lambda	Scarlet and Grey
Alpha Gamma Sigma	Double Gold Cord
Alpha Kappa Delta	Teal
Alpha Kappa Mu	Royal Blue and White
Alpha Lambda Delta	Red, Gold, and White
Alpha Mu Alpha	Red
Alpha Mu Gamma	Gold
Alpha Nu Sigma	White
Alpha Phi Omega	Royal Blue and Old Glory Gold
Alpha Phi Sigma	Blue and Gold	Gold	Blue
Alpha Pi Mu	White and Gold
Alpha Psi Omega	Light Blue and Amber
Alpha Sigma Lambda	Maroon/Burgundy and Gold
Alpha Sigma Mu
Alpha Sigma Nu			Gold on Maroon Ribbon
American Mock Trial Association	Maroon, Purple and Royal Blue
Beta Alpha Psi	White with Society Seal
Beta Beta Beta	Forest Green and Blood Red
Beta Gamma Sigma	Gold Cord, Yale Blue Tassel, Gold Wrap and Yale Blue Cord, Gold Tassel, Yale Blue Wrap
Beta Kappa Chi	Royal Blue
Beta Phi Mu	Purple and White
Chi Alpha Sigma	Gold and Black
Chi Epsilon		Purple and White
Chi Sigma Iota	Blue and White
Delta Epsilon Iota	Royal Blue and Old Gold
Delta Epsilon Sigma	Gold and Maroon
Delta Mu Delta	Purple and Gold
Delta Phi Alpha	Black, Red and Gold
Delta Omicron	Pink and Grey
Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha
Delta Tau Alpha	Hunter Green and Harvest Gold
Epsilon Pi Tau	Blue, White and Gold
Eta Kappa Nu	Gold Cord with Navy Blue and Scarlet Red Tassels
Eta Sigma Phi	Gold and Purple Cords with Gold Tassels	Gold
Gamma Sigma Alpha	Gold and Red
Gamma Sigma Epsilon	Blue and White
Gamma Theta Upsilon	Brown, Light Blue, and Gold
Golden Key International Honour Society	Royal Blue and Gold
Indian University Scholar Society
Iota Iota Iota	Lavender
Kappa Beta Delta	Blue and Gold
Kappa Delta Pi	Purple and Jade Green
Kappa Kappa Psi	Blue and White
Kappa Mu Epsilon	Pink and Gray
Kappa Omicron Nu	Burgundy and Cream		Gold/Burgundy with Burgundy Ribbon
Kappa Tau Alpha	Light Blue and Gold
Lambda Iota Tau	Purple and Gold
Lambda Pi Eta	Red, White, and Gold
Lambda Sigma	Blue and Gold
Mortar Board	Silver and Gold
Mu Kappa Tau	Blue and Gold
National Residence Hall Honorary	Blue and White
National Society of Collegiate Scholars	Burgundy and Gold
The Neutral Ground Society	Lavender
Nu Rho Psi	Black and Gold
Omega Chi Epsilon	Maroon and White
Omega Nu Lambda	Navy and Gray
Omega Rho	Blue and Red
Omicron Delta Epsilon	Blue and Gold
Omicron Delta Kappa	Sky Blue, White, and Black
Order of Omega	Gold and Ivory
Phi Alpha Theta	Madonna Red and Madonna Blue
Phi Beta Delta	Red and Gold
Phi Beta Kappa	Pink and Sky Blue
Phi Delta Phi	Red, Blue, and Gold
Phi Eta Sigma	Gold and Black
Phi Kappa Phi	Navy and Gold	Gold with Royal Blue Ribbon
Phi Lambda Upsilon	Blue, Pink
Phi Sigma	Yellow, Green, and White
Phi Sigma Iota	Gold
Phi Sigma Tau	White and Purple
Phi Sigma Theta	Gold, Green and Purple
Phi Theta Kappa	Blue and Gold	Gold	Gold
Phi Upsilon Omicron	Yellow, White, and Purple
Pi Alpha Alpha	Light Blue and Yellow
Pi Alpha Xi	Cerulean blue and Nile green
Pi Delta Phi	Blue, White and Red
Pi Gamma Mu	Royal Blue and White
Pi Kappa Lambda	Gold and White
Pi Mu Epsilon	Gold, Purple and Lilac
Pi Omega Pi	Silver, Royal Blue, and Gold
Pi Sigma Alpha	Red, White, and Black
Pi Tau Sigma	Red and Blue
Pi Theta Epsilon	Navy and Gold
Psi Beta	Royal Blue and Gold
Psi Chi	Platinum and Dark Blue
Rho Chi	Royal Purple and White
Rho Theta Sigma
S.A.L.U.T.E. National Honor Society	Red/Cardinal, White, and Royal Blue
Sigma Alpha Lambda	Navy, Black, and Gold
Sigma Alpha Pi	Platinum and Black
Sigma Beta Delta	Hunter Green and Gold
Sigma Delta Pi	Red and Gold
Sigma Lambda Alpha	Gold and Green
Sigma Lambda Chi	Green and Gold	Silver Logo
Sigma Pi Sigma	Forest Green and Ivory
Sigma Tau Delta	Cardinal and Black
Sigma Theta Tau	Orchid and White
Sigma Xi	Silver and Blue
Tau Alpha Pi	Green and Gold
Tau Beta Pi	Orange and White	White with Orange Bent
Tau Beta Sigma	White and Blue
Tau Sigma	Red and Gold
Tau Sigma Delta
Theta Alpha Kappa	Scarlet
Upsilon Pi Epsilon	Maroon and White

List of high school honor society honor cords

Honor society	align=center	Color
National Honor Society	Gold
National Technical Honor Society	Purple and White
Computer Science Honor Society	Light Blue
National English Honor Society	Blue and Gold
National Art Honor Society	Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple
Société Honoraire de Français	Red, White, and Blue
German National Honor Society	Black, Red and Gold
Japanese National Honor Society	Red and White
National Junior Classical League Latin Honor Society	Purple and Gold
Mu Alpha Theta	Light Blue and Gold
Tri-M Music Honor Society	Pink
National Business Honor Society	Hunter Green and Silver
Science National Honor Society	Green and Purple
Rho Kappa	Blue and White
Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica	Gold and Red
National Speech and Debate Association	Red and Grey
Technology Student Association	Red, Silver, and Blue
International Thespian Society	Blue and Gold, Brown
National Eagle Scout Association	Red, White, and Blue
Mensa Honor Society	Blue, White, and Black

See also

• Association of College Honor Societies
• Honor Society Caucus

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cravens . Stan . The Meaning of Graduation Honor Cords . 22 July 2019.
2. Web site: ACHS Honor Cord Registry . 22 July 2019.