Graduation is always an exciting time for the students and their families. Each year countless students eagerly await the day that they finally get their diploma. On their graduation day, they don the traditional robes, sashes, and graduation caps – with tassels to boot. But lately those traditional graduation caps have been getting some fantastic, and hilarious, upgrades.
We’re here to countdown the 50 best graduation caps that deserve be at the top of their class. These caps are worth keeping, instead of tossing in the air.
1. Legend of Zelda (and Diplomas)
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for last few years, you’re probably familiar with the mind-bending puzzle game from Nintendo. As the story goes, a little green man fights increasingly difficult monsters to save the princess – not so different from college, it turns out.
Who doesn’t love a good pun? This student would be getting top marks in our book for that sense of humor.
If you grew up in the 90’s, you are very familiar with SpongeBob SquarePants. This graduation cap is the perfect tongue-in-cheek reference to the famed kid’s cartoon and we love it.
We’re guessing that this student might have been studying art – that, or they just appreciate a good Edvard Munch reference. And don’t worry – we all scream when we see our student loans.
We’re hoping that this mom was too proud of their kid to notice their graduation confession. This student’s courage is definitely something to be admired.
6. For All You Engineers Out There
If you’ve ever met an engineer, this might be a phrase you’re overly familiar with. We’re glad to see this future engineer isn’t breaking the trend.
You might be noticing a theme – turns out all of the kids of the 90’s graduated together. Our hats are off to this craft Harry Potter graduation cap!
This is another well-executed Harry Potter themed graduation cap. The pearl details give it a nice touch and the lettering is totally spot on.
Somehow, we have a feeling that paying your student loans back in bags of quarters might be a bad idea.
10. Perfect Game of Thrones Pun
Who doesn’t love
Game of Thrones? And who doesn’t love puns? And who doesn’t love making light of crippling debt?
This graduating student is really asking the hard questions. We’re guessing a journalist major, for sure.
12. In Case You Were Wondering
We had a feeling the fictional school of magic might not accept student loans for tuition. Thanks for clearing that up!
We love that this cap drew inspiration from the wonderful Marvel Universe and of course, the Amazing Spider-man! (Plus, the little shout-out to Mom is so adorable.)
14. Come on grab your friends…
We’re going to distant (adult) lands, with a new diploma and student loans – the fun will never end. This graduation cap is too cute, and we’re totally here for it.
This
Peter Pan-themed graduation cap is beautifully made and actually quite subtle. Congratulations to this proud Disney fan!
Frankly, most people can’t get through their day without a cup of coffee – I know I can’t. Really, shouldn’t we all be thanking coffee for the miracle of its existence?
17. Everyone Needs Some Time to Wine
Sometimes you just need to sit down with a glass of wine after a long day, or after a long 4 years in pursuit of a diploma. We definitely think this student earned her chance to ‘wine’ at little.
18. For All You Dragonball Z Fans
In case you aren’t familiar with this reference,
Dragonball Z was a famous 90’s anime that took the United States by storm. Looks like this student’s loans are just as powerful as Goku!
As kids, we all related to Ariel’s plight of wanting to be on the surface and dreaming of this better life. We also, on a very real level, relate to this student just wanting to be employed.
20. World’s Favorite Food
We’ve all been there – you order a pizza, thinking that you’ll just eat a couple of slices. And then you end up eating the whole dang pie. At least this student celebrated their love of pizza in the best possible way.
21. “I am the one who graduates!”
If you haven’t watched the binge worthy
Breaking Bad, you are not living life to the fullest. We can only hope that this lucky grad is also an aspiring chemist.
Eric Cartman is obnoxious, loud and entitled – the perfect role model for any graduating student. Regardless, we love this crafty and unique graduation cap as a way to show your love for one of the world’s most infamous cartoon shows.
Arguably one of the best newspapers comics ever,
Calvin & Hobbes captured audiences for decades ever since it was first published in 1985. This graduation cap is a beautiful homage to these two best friends and we love the motivational message.
This graduation cap is a clever parody of rapper Drake’s mixtape,
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Our hats are off to this creative cap for showing their love to their favorite artist on their big day.
25. Don’t Let Mom Read This
The message on this graduation cap may be not so family-friendly. Just don’t go explaining this double meaning to your parents – or worse, grandparents.
26. Classic Pokemon Battle
If you’re a fan of classic
Pokémon, then this cap will definitely be your favorite. We love the funny and smart battle options to either apply, beg, run or “ntwk” (network).
This is a cute and darkly funny take on
Hello Kitty. It looks like the famous cat has seen some better days – that’s for sure.
This cap is another brilliant shout-out to a 90’s classic film,
Jurassic Park. This student is absolutely a clever girl, especially with that shiny new diploma.
29. Fallout: New Graduate
Bethesda’s
Fallout series has a long legacy of being most gamer’s favorite, if not most memorable, gaming experience. That sure was a lot of caps just for that +1 intelligence perk.
30. Homage to Certain Sponge
Who doesn’t love SpongeBob SquarePants? This graduation cap is a cute and unique way to show your love for your favorite cartoon sponge, and we are definitely here for it.
There was always that one person in class who looked like they just stepped out of the salon, rather than rolling out of bed. Guess we’ve found the next beauty guru!
This graduation cap might be the most honest of the bunch. Hopefully this student got some help with their money situation.
Looks like a member of the bey-hive is graduating – and we love that they chose to decorate their graduation cap with arguably the world’s favorite person. The Queen would be proud.
This graduation cap is a fun take on a clock – it looks like this student is happy to be graduating just in the nick of time.
35. Simple Yet Oh So Delicious
Clearly, one student wanted to make a clear, simple statement: they love pizza. And what better way to do that than plastering a giant pizza on your graduation cap?
We all remember when Disney’s hit film
Frozen was all anyone could talk about, and for good reason. Elsa’s character is definitely a great role model and we’re glad to see this student is still a child at heart.
Kim Kardashian crying is definitely a mood, and we’ve all been there. Your college years are always filled with plenty of ugly-crying.
There is not better board-game than monopoly to represent the struggle of college – stressful, relationship-ending, and you never seem to have enough money.
We love that this student is celebrating that you’re never too old to go back to school and learn. Congratulations to this dedicated student!
This graduation cap is a classic bachelor of science pun and we are here for it. It’s good to finally be done with all the…stuff.
This graduation cap is another homage to Ariel, the Disney princess who also happens to be a mermaid. We would also rather stay under the sea, down where it’s better.
42. The Happiest Place on Earth
We all love Disney, and of course, the best place on earth – Disneyland. We love that this student is sharing their love of Disney.
Parks & Rec was an absolutely iconic TV show and debatably the best character was Chris Pratt’s portrayal of hilarious, bumbling Andy Dwyer. Rep that
Parks & Rec!
This graduation cap is perfect for anyone who wants to really demonstrate all that they’ve learned in college. We’re betting their parents are pretty darn proud.
45. Inspiring Aspirations
First of all, this dog is literally too cute. We love this sweet innocent graduation cap and the student who’s just trying to be the best boy they can be.
46. You were in school for how long?
Either this person is counting all the way back to kindergarten or they took that extra 5th year and somehow turned it into 13 years. Uh…congrats?
47. Shia LaBeouf would be proud.
“Just do it” turned into “just did it”. This graduation cap is clever and somehow we can’t help but feel that somewhere Shia LaBeouf is smiling.
That’s definitely a long list of problems – maybe it’s time to start taking a crack at the other 99 now that you’ve finally graduated?
Finally, a graduation cap celebrating everyone’s favorite little green alien who speaks strangely. We were wondering when we might see some
Star Wars fans.
We all know the “hey girl” Ryan Gosling meme, but we love that this student turned it into a wholesome and motivational graduation cap. Our hats are off to you!
Thank you to all of the graduating students who shared their unique and creative graduations caps. Hopefully that creativity carries them off into the new (and a little scary) world ahead – adulthood.
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