English: The baldric, a ceremonial adaptation of the medieval knife belt slung over the shoulder, is another part of formal academic regalia. Information about them is hard to find, even from institutions that grant them.

You will see them on faculty members at formal graduation or matriculation ceremonies. Baldrics are approximately 3-foot-long and 4 inches wide with a large fastener for the shoulder. Baldrics pin to the right shoulder and drape forward and back.

The baldric’s medallion usually bears a heraldic device of the granting institution, which may be more or less abstractly symbolic. The baldric of the American Academy in Rome bears the Janus-head medallion in bronze. This secures the velvet sash in the academic colors for the fields pursued at the Academy, brown (fine arts) and white (humanities, arts and letters). Three thin horizontal fur strips articulate this baldric at either end and about ten inches up from the back. Only recipients of a prestigious Rome Prize Fellowship are permitted to wear this baldric.