School ties have been around forever, hundreds of years in fact.
The first ties that were worn were in the 1600’s, initially ties were called cravattes, a French word originating from the word Croat which was used to describe a long piece of fabric worn by the Croatian soldiers during the 30 year war in the early 1600’s.
This long piece of fabric was coloured in different ways to ensure that the Croatian soldiers counterparts knew where he was from and to which battalion he belonged and for the enemy, it told them that this soldier was Croatian, not any other nationality.
So all in all, that’s rather the same purpose that modern day school ties serve- it shows anyone from within a school that the persons wearing the school ties are also from that school. In other words, it allows one Croatian soldier to recognize another Croatian soldier, form a feeling of solidarity if they are from the same battalion.
If the wearers of the school ties are all together, school ties encourage a feeling of belonging and solidarity amongst them selves. Rather like the Croat wearers back in the 30 year war all those centuries ago, the Croat worn around their necks meant that they belonged, they were part of that particular community.
Likewise, wearing school ties also distinguishes the wearers from other schools ie: there is no doubting that if the wearer has a specific school tie, then it stands to reason that that person is from a certain school.
So based on this, we can say that school ties or the concept of school ties was formed long before school ties became a recognized part of a school uniform.
Simply by wearing school ties, wearers are demonstrating their sense of belonging and unity with their school mates which from a human needs perspective is quite important because we all have a sense of needing to belong.
That’s why we join clubs and institutions which leads me onto the reason why these clubs and institutions go on to also acquire items such as ties and scarves and jewellery pieces, to distinguish themselves from other organizations and to show people that this is where they belong.
It is also important to not a few other things when it comes to school ties, school ties are worn not only to achieve a sense of belonging, being part of something, but also to denote achievement, such as 1st fifteen rugby or hockey or chess or any other interest or sport that is given recognition by the school.
Together with this also comes the issue of seniority or rank if compared back to the thirty year war, where neckties were worn by the Croatian soldiers with the officers wearing silk as compared to the soldiers who just wore a normal piece of fabric, probably cotton or linen in those days.
Anyway, back to school ties and their ability to denote rank or seniority. Well this is specifically related to perhaps a seniors school tie, worn from grade 10 to 12, or a matric school tie or perhaps even an old boys tie which is worn after the fact to show that one was part of the school at some point, one belonged!
So as you can see, there is much more to the wearing of school ties than meets the mind, there are so many reasons apart from the actual reason, why school ties are worn and wht school ties for the most part will probably always be part of a school uniform for as long as the concept of a school uniform and school ties exist which I really hope is forever, otherwise how does one really know where you belong?