Diplomas certify the permanent rights or rights granted by the competent authority or office of the recipient of the diploma. School and course graduation certificates, including university diplomas, fit well in this way of understanding the legal function of a diploma.
“The significant merits of the recipient of the diploma or the everlasting right to use the rights described in the diploma encouraged the issuers of the diplomas to prepare them in a particularly decorative and original form. The text confirming the legal act was combined with the iconography made of signs and symbols related to the circumstances of the legal act or with images identifying the area appropriate for the content of the issued diploma" – explains prof. Marek Adamczewski, a historian, specialist in the field of heraldry.
“At the same time, the reverence with which the document was prepared, the ornamentation of the handwriting, the loftiness of the language and the symbolism used were to testify to the majesty of the document issuer's authority. In this sense, contemporary, most elegant documents inherit traditions that go back to the Middle Ages – awarding nobility, privileges, city rights, etc." – adds dr Andrzej Kompa from the Institute of History, University of Lodz.
Until the end of the 18th century, the richly illustrated diplomas were created as unique works of a specific type of art. In justified cases (and most often for the recipient's money), at the exhibitors' offices, the diplomas were given an artistic setting, which was de facto and de jure a message as important as their text. From the nineteenth century, printed document forms often presenting extensive iconography appeared in the offices of various authorities and offices.
“The artistic supplements to the documents of the Heraldry of the Kingdom of Poland, officer patents of the Polish Army (until 1830) and guild certificates were particularly rich. School graduation forms, including graduation forms from the University of Warsaw, were inferior to the above-mentioned types of diplomas in terms of decorative arts” – assesses Marek Adamczewski.
"In the reborn post-partition Poland, own models of diploma documents, which on the one hand referred to tradition, and on the other hand did not shy away from the then fashionable artistic styles that influenced iconographic images, typeface, etc., started to be created. It was no different in the Polish People's Republic and at the beginning of the Third Polish Republic. Although simplified, the diplomas remained a special, solemn and in some way ornate document” – reminds dr Kompa.
A new chapter in the recent history of university diplomas was written in September 2018. In the Regulation of 27 September 2018, the Minister of Science and Higher Education listed a number of necessary features of a diploma. He also described the pictorial signs that should be present on the diploma. There is no White Eagle or the emblem established for the White Eagle in the catalogue of the required pictorial characters. On the other hand, the right of the issuer of the document – a university – to display the university's logo was strongly emphasized.
“The lack of the White Eagle or the emblem established for the White Eagle in the ministerial description of the model diploma has been noticed and criticized. A petition was submitted to the Sejm to supplement the Regulation with a provision forcing issuers of diplomas or exhibitors of other documents that are important for public and social life to place the Polish state emblem on them" – explains prof. Adamczewski.
According to the petitioner,the White Eagle on the diploma or other important document would clearly inform the recipients about the national origin and nature of such a document. The deputies rejected this proposal, statin that the Polish state eagle would appear on the diploma or on another state document in the form of an imprint of the document's authenticating seal. It seems that in this case, the deputies did not notice the difference between the iconographic completion of the document form and the typical authentication of the document with a stamp.
In response to the above-mentioned ministerial Regulation of September 27, 2018, Polish universities started to work on new models of diplomas. Numerous examples of already approved models of diplomas are available on the Internet.
“A new model of the graduation diploma (in varieties appropriate to the education levels) has been also created for the University of Lodz. The signs and elements securing the document required by the legislator (including those invisible under normal conditions), as well as the solutions suggested by the manufacturer of the forms, have been harmoniously combined with the symbols proposed by the employees of the University of Lodz” – explains Andrzej Kompa.
The emblem of the White Eagle (in the distinguishing circle) opens our University diploma and informs that the statutory regulations of the Republic of Poland define the framework for the functioning of the University of Lodz, as well as its rights to educate and promote students and scientists. The sign of the University of Lodz with the motto focuses attention on our academic community defined according to the words of the Gaudeamus igitur song – present on the diploma, but visible only in the ultraviolet.
“The symbol of our University is also the image of the new Rectorate, incorporated into the lower part of the diploma frame. The modest frame surrounding the entire document has been enriched by the introduction of a plant element – twigs of blooming cotton – that well describes the historic Lodz, for many the Promised Land. In the internal voting, flowering cotton won with flowering linen" – sums up dr Kompa.
The new design makes use of wide and quite traditional typefaces, which emphasize the ceremonial character of the document and, together with the chosen colours, add additional historical references to the diploma. Also the maroon tone, which refers to the symbolism of power popular all over Europe has such a meaning. Since the diploma is in the form of a card, and not – as it was the case until recently – a half-folded brochure, it will no longer contain a student's photo. Each document will still have a unique number.
The finished project was almost unanimously approved by the Senate of the University of Lodz on 17 May 2021. A modern document but at the same time referring to the rich history of both our Almae Matris and the Polish art of creating documents was created.
