Most people assume Harvard diplomas are still written entirely in Latin. The truth is a little more interesting. For most of Harvard’s history, diplomas were Latin documents on heavy parchment with the famous crimson seal. Then, in 1961, the university switched undergraduate diplomas to English, sparking student protests known as the “Diploma Riots.” Today, most Harvard degrees are in English, but a handful, including PhDs from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, are still issued in Latin.
This post covers what a modern Harvard diploma actually looks like, what the seal and Latin honors mean, what the document includes, and how the format varies by degree.
Harvard’s diploma tradition
Harvard was founded in 1636 as the first university in what is now the United States. From its founding through the mid-twentieth century, the university issued diplomas in Latin, mirroring the European academic tradition that ran back to medieval times. The Latin parchment was part of what made a Harvard diploma feel like a piece of history rather than a certificate.
That changed in 1961, when President Nathan M. Pusey approved a faculty vote to switch undergraduate diplomas to English. The decision broke a 325-year tradition. Students were not happy. Thousands marched on Pusey’s house in togas and bedsheets, chanting “Latin Si, Pusey No.” Police used tear gas. Four undergraduates were briefly jailed. The diplomas stayed in English.
The Latin Bachelor of Arts abbreviation A.B. (Artium Baccalaureus) is still on Harvard’s English-language diplomas, along with Latin honors like cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. The full Latin text, however, is gone from the undergraduate document.
What language is a Harvard diploma written in today?
This is the part that gets misreported. The short answer:
- Undergraduate diplomas (A.B.): English, since 1961. The only remaining Latin elements are the A.B. abbreviation and the Latin honors.
- Most professional and graduate degrees: English. MBAs from Harvard Business School, JDs from Harvard Law, and most master’s degrees are issued in English.
- PhDs from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Still in Latin. Alumni often receive an English translation alongside the Latin parchment.
So if you have seen a Harvard diploma written entirely in Latin, it is either a pre-1961 undergraduate diploma, a PhD parchment, or a replica of one.
The Harvard seal: what it looks like and what it means
Harvard’s seal is one of the most recognisable academic emblems in the world. The design features a shield with three open books and the word VERITAS, Latin for “truth,” spread across them. The seal appears in crimson, the university’s official colour, and is printed or embossed on every Harvard diploma.
The three books represent Harvard’s educational mission. VERITAS was adopted as the university motto in the seventeenth century, reflecting the institution’s founding commitment to truth in scholarship. Interestingly, one of the complaints during the 1961 Diploma Riots was that the new English diplomas had originally been issued without the College seal at all. The seal was added back after student outcry, and it remains the most visible piece of Harvard’s traditional identity on the modern diploma.
What information appears on a Harvard diploma?
A modern Harvard diploma is a single sheet of heavy parchment-style paper. The exact layout varies by school, but most include:
- The words “Harvard University” and “Cambridge, Massachusetts”
- The recipient’s full legal name in larger or more formal type
- The specific degree being conferred (Bachelor of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy, Juris Doctor, and so on)
- The field of study or concentration, when applicable
- The date of conferral
- Signatures from the President of Harvard and the Dean of the relevant school
- The crimson Harvard seal, usually embossed or printed in colour
- Latin honors, if earned (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude)
The paper itself is high-quality cotton stock chosen to look and feel like parchment. Harvard diplomas have not been printed on actual sheepskin in many decades, despite the persistent myth.
How Harvard diplomas vary by degree
Different Harvard schools issue diplomas with slight variations in formatting and signatories:
- Undergraduate (A.B.): Issued by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Signed by the President of Harvard and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
- Graduate degrees (A.M., PhD): Issued by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. PhDs are still in Latin and use the traditional formal format.
- Harvard Business School (MBA): Issued by HBS with the Dean’s signature and the school’s distinctive layout.
- Harvard Law School (JD): Issued by the Law School, in English, with the Dean of Harvard Law School signing alongside the President.
- Harvard Medical School (MD): Issued by HMS with its own format and signatories.
What they all share: the crimson VERITAS seal, the Harvard University header, and the parchment-style paper. The visual identity is consistent even when the details differ.
How to get a Harvard diploma replica
People look for Harvard diploma replicas for a few practical reasons:
- The original was lost or damaged. Diplomas get water-damaged, faded, ripped, or destroyed in moves. A replacement from Harvard’s registrar is possible but takes time and paperwork. A replica for display lets you keep the original safely stored.
- Display while archiving the original. Some graduates frame a replica and keep the actual diploma in a fireproof safe or archive folder.
- Gifts and props. A Harvard-style document can serve as a novelty gift for a Harvard grad, a prop for a video or photo shoot, or a piece of display content for a study space.
ValidGrad’s Harvard replica diploma is designed to match the format of a modern Harvard diploma: parchment-style paper, the VERITAS seal in crimson, formal layout, and signature lines. It is positioned as a display piece, not as a substitute for the official Harvard diploma. For any official verification, the actual Harvard registrar issues degree confirmations and verified transcripts directly.
If you are interested in the broader category, here is a guide to what a college diploma looks like and another covering the diploma seal tradition across universities. For other university styles, the university diploma maker covers a range of institutions.
Closing
Harvard diplomas have changed more than most people realise: Latin for over three centuries, English since 1961, with a crimson VERITAS seal that has held steady through every other shift. Whether you want a replica because the original is in storage, because the original is gone, or because you want a display piece that looks the part, the format and design choices that made the document recognisable are easy to reproduce well. To create one, see the Harvard replica diploma page.