Russ - Russ Attire

Russ Attire

Tradition dictates that each russ wears an overall during the entire russefeiring (russ celebration period). The colour of the overall should match the graduate's program of study: Red for courses that are geared towards higher education (this is the most common colour), blue for courses in Business (also higher education in economics and management), black for Engineering (such as mechanics or electrics), and green for agricultural fields. The latter color is rarely seen due to the low student numbers in such courses.

Overalls are unisex, and usually available in two versions, one full overall (with sleeves), and one resembling bib overalls. Which of the two versions are more popular varies from year to year. Currently, the bib version is most popular.

On the morning of the national day the attire is completed by the ceremonial addition of the russelue (russ cap), which evolved from the traditional student cap used for university acceptance and graduation ceremonies. The ceremony involves the christening of the graduate, in which the graduate is awarded a name by his or her fellow graduates which, in their opinion, either characterizes an aspect of the graduate's normal behaviour, or the one exhibited during the russefeiring. This name is written on the brim before the cap is handed over. The cap should match the overall in colour, and should be worn for the entire national day, which completes the russefeiring. This way, the russ' attire is complete before they join the local national day parade, which is the culmination of the russefeiring.

Other common russ paraphernalia is the cane and the whistle. The cane was originally a birch twig, but is now often purchased and made from bamboo or plastic. It is used for banging things (such as the russ' car) rhythmically while chanting slogans in the 17th of May parade. The whistle resembles a common sports whistle, and is also used to make noise in the parade.

Over the years the russefeiring has become big business, and therefore there are a number of companies providing a plethora of optional paraphernalia for russ to purchase, such as t-shirts, sweaters, baseball caps, and so on.