At commencement exercises, candidates for degrees of each college are led into the arena area by a faculty marshal carrying a banner. The banners were especially designed and made for the colleges by Art Professor Richard Daehnert. The commencement banners derive their form from the heraldic standards carried in medieval festivals. Individual colleges are identified through standardized colors representing the degrees awarded in the college. All banners contain black—the color of academic robes—incorporating a contrasting hue in the geometric pattern for each banner. The banners are constructed using the same techniques as pieced quilts, thus relating them to the rich historic textile tradition of quilting in Appalachia. The material is nylon banner cloth.