What Does a Harvard Diploma Look Like? (Seal, Latin, Format Explained)

A large brick building on the Harvard University campus with a grassy lawn in front, in Cambridge, Massachusetts

A Harvard diploma is a printed sheet carrying the name of the university, the graduate’s diploma name, the degree conferred, Latin honors when they are earned, the signatures of university officials, and the Harvard shield with the word VERITAS. Harvard College diplomas have been printed in English since the class of 1961. Master’s and PhD diplomas from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences are still printed in Latin, and the FAS Registrar’s Office issues official English translations of them on request.

Harvard publishes no full design specification for its diplomas, so what follows keeps to the university’s own pages and to what was reported at the time of the 1961 change. Sources are listed at the end.

What is printed on a Harvard diploma

Each element below comes from Harvard’s own pages.

  • The diploma name. The FAS Registrar’s Office contacts degree candidates about six weeks before the expected graduation date to confirm the diploma name and degree information. A middle name appears only when it is added under the diploma name type.
  • The degree conferred. FAS master’s diplomas show the degree without the field of study. Fields of study, cumulative GPA, certificates, prizes and awards appear on the Harvard transcript instead.
  • Latin honors, when earned. The FAS Registrar states that Latin honors are reflected on the transcript and the diploma, while English departmental honors appear on the transcript only. For May 2026 the cutoffs ran from 3.741 for cum laude in field to 3.987 for summa cum laude in field.
  • Signatures of university officials. A reissued diploma may carry the names of the officials in office when the original was printed, without their signatures, which is what separates it from the signed original.
  • The Harvard shield with VERITAS. When the College dropped Latin in 1961, one student complaint reported by The Harvard Crimson was that the new diplomas were missing the College seal.
  • On a replacement, a certifying line. A replacement bears a statement in the lower margin by the Secretary to the Corporation certifying that the diploma is, in substance, a copy of the original.

For the layout common to American degrees, see what a college diploma looks like.

Is a Harvard diploma in Latin?

Part of Harvard is still Latin and part of it is not, and the split runs by school and degree level.

  • Harvard College bachelor’s diplomas are in English. The class of 1961 was the first to receive them, ending a 325-year practice.
  • FAS master’s and PhD diplomas are in Latin. The Registrar’s Office asks alumni to email for an English translation, and states that its translations are official documents issued by the office and are not outsourced to a service.
  • Harvard Extension School master’s diplomas are in Latin. The school states that all FAS master’s degree diplomas are printed in Latin and that fields are not displayed on them.
  • Other schools set their own. The FAS Registrar covers Harvard College, Harvard Griffin GSAS and Radcliffe, and states plainly that it cannot replace diplomas conferred by other schools.

A Harvard document written entirely in Latin is therefore an undergraduate diploma from before 1961, a graduate diploma from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, or a copy of one.

The VERITAS seal and what it means

VERITAS is Latin for truth, and it is older than the diploma itself. On December 27, 1643 the Board of Overseers ordered that there be a college seal in a set form, with the letters VE, RI and TAS spread across three books on a shield. In the 1643 drawing two books are open and the third lies face down. The motto then fell out of use for nearly two centuries, until President Josiah Quincy revived it for the bicentennial of 1836. Seals made after 1847 show all three books open, and the face-down book survives on the John Harvard statue and on Austin Hall.

The shields are not free decoration. The Harvard Trademark Program publishes a register of marks owned by the President and Fellows of Harvard College that includes HARVARD, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, HARVARD 1636, the Harvard College shield design, and separate VERITAS shield registrations for the Business School, Law School, Medical School, Divinity School, Kennedy School and Extension School. For how seals sit on diplomas in general, see the guide to the diploma seal.

How big is a Harvard diploma and what is it printed on

Harvard’s registrar pages do not publish the dimensions or the paper stock of current diplomas, so anyone buying a frame should measure the document first. The sizes Harvard does document are historical. Before 1813 a graduate who wanted a record of the degree hired a local calligrapher to write an inscription on parchment, and the results came in all shapes and sizes. One 1769 graduate ordered a sheepskin 24 inches wide, while the earliest diploma in the Harvard collections, George Alcock’s A.B. of 1673, is about 10 inches by 6. The uniformly sized printed Latin diploma arrived in 1813.

Size was part of the 1961 argument too, since students objected that the new English diplomas were smaller and printed on what they considered inferior paper. Material questions are covered in what paper diplomas are printed on, and framing in the guide to displaying a framed college diploma.

There is now a second format. Harvard issues Certified Electronic Diplomas for graduates from November 2020 onward, delivered within two weeks of conferral and validated through the Harvard University credentials site. The digital diploma guide explains how those files work.

Harvard’s diploma tradition and the 1961 Diploma Riots

Harvard was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 28, 1636 as the first college in the American colonies, and for most of that history the degree document was Latin. In April 1961 the Faculty recommended and the Corporation voted to print diplomas in English, a change President Nathan M. Pusey had put to the Faculty. The Crimson reported that the new diplomas had already been prepared for the June ceremony.

Students reacted on April 26, 1961. More than 2,000 gathered on the steps of Widener Library, close to 4,000 turned out the following night, and the crowd moved toward Pusey’s house chanting “Latin si, Pusey no.” Cambridge police broke it up with tear gas and smoke bombs, and a later Crimson account puts the count at eight tear gas bombs and four students arrested. The objections ran to the document itself, which students called smaller, poorly printed and missing the College seal. The diplomas stayed in English.

How Harvard diplomas differ by school

Harvard is a set of schools, and the diploma follows the school. The FAS Registrar’s Office serves Harvard College, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Radcliffe, and sends alumni of other schools to their own registrars. Degree verification is split the same way, with the National Student Clearinghouse menu listing Harvard College for bachelor’s degrees and Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for master’s and PhD degrees. Each school also has its own registered VERITAS shield, so a Business School document and a Divinity School document do not carry the same mark.

Harvard Extension School diplomas

Extension School degrees are Harvard University degrees with their own names. The undergraduate degree is the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (ALB) in Extension Studies and the graduate degree is the Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Extension Studies. Because all FAS master’s diplomas are printed in Latin with no field displayed, the ALM parchment does not name the concentration. Fields of study, cumulative GPA, certificates, prizes and awards appear on the transcript.

The school also publishes two accepted ways to write the credential, either Bachelor or Master of Liberal Arts, Harvard University Extension School, or Bachelor or Master of Liberal Arts, Extension Studies, Harvard University, with field of study, minor and honors when applicable. HARVARD EXTENSION SCHOOL and its VERITAS shield are registered marks too.

How to replace a lost or damaged Harvard diploma

Harvard College, Harvard Griffin GSAS and Radcliffe alumni request replacements from the FAS Registrar’s Office at replacement@fas.harvard.edu. Graduates of other Harvard schools go to that school’s registrar. The published terms are specific.

  • A replacement costs $150.00 and takes four to six weeks from the time the order is received.
  • Every request needs a notarized cover letter explaining the reason.
  • For a lost or stolen diploma, Harvard asks for evidence such as an insurance claim or notarized statement, and for a fire or similar event, a police or insurance report.
  • For a damaged diploma, images of the damage go to the registrar first, and the original may have to be mailed back before the replacement is printed.
  • After a legal name change, update the name on record with the Biographical Information Update Form and return the original diploma.
  • Harvard does not issue replacement diplomas to family members of alumni.

How a Harvard degree is verified

The framed document on the wall is not what an employer checks. Harvard routes official degree verifications through the National Student Clearinghouse, where the requester picks the school and pays a fee, and the verification returns name, dates of enrollment and degrees received. Alumni who need a signed letter certifying the degree email registrar@fas.harvard.edu and are asked to allow five to seven business days. Graduates from November 2020 onward also hold a Certified Electronic Diploma that a third party can validate online.

Replicas of Harvard diplomas

A replica of a Harvard diploma is a novelty item made for display, and nothing more. It confers no degree, it cannot answer a verification request, and it is not connected with or endorsed by the university. The Harvard name and the VERITAS shields are registered trademarks owned by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, so a document that reproduces them raises a trademark question too. Anyone who needs the real thing has the routes above.

ValidGrad’s Harvard replica diploma is a display piece for a frame or a film set, and the terms of service forbid using any replica to claim a credential or to mislead anyone.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Harvard seal on a diploma say?

VERITAS, Latin for truth, split as VE, RI and TAS across three books on a shield. The Board of Overseers ordered the design on December 27, 1643, President Josiah Quincy revived the motto in 1836, and seals made after 1847 show all three books open.

What size is a Harvard diploma?

Harvard does not publish the dimensions of current diplomas, so the only reliable number is the one measured from the document in hand. Historic sizes varied widely, from a 24-inch sheepskin in 1769 to a 1673 diploma of about 10 inches by 6, until printed diplomas of a uniform size began in 1813.

How do you get a copy of a Harvard diploma?

College, Griffin GSAS and Radcliffe alumni email replacement@fas.harvard.edu with a notarized cover letter. The fee is $150.00 and the process takes four to six weeks. The reissued document carries a line from the Secretary to the Corporation saying it is, in substance, a copy of the original.

Does a Harvard Extension School diploma say Harvard University?

The degree is a Harvard University degree, named Bachelor of Liberal Arts (ALB) in Extension Studies or Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Extension Studies. Extension Studies is part of the degree name, and the school publishes two accepted ways to write it on a resume.

Sources