Conferment of Colour

Conferment of Colour is a ceremony observed by the Commercial Guilds in which a member of the organisation is promoted between ranks.

Procedure

The procedure, as presented by the Guilds themselves, is fairly straightforward. The operative of the Guilds who is being promoted is paraded in front of the other staff of their Guildhouse in the full version of whatever regalia they currently possess. They assume a kneeling position before a Guilder who currently outranks them (or, if the subject is being elevated to Gold rank, one of Silver rank) and who extracts oaths of fealty and dedication from them, the precise wording of which is formulated beforehand by a committee of senior members of the Guildhouse. 
The official then orders the subject to stand and remove their current robes. Historically, the subject would be nude underneath, though for several generations a long, loose-fitting, unbelted under-robe of bleached fabric has been worn. Members of the Guild then approach the subject and help them into new robes, purchased by the subject and in keeping with the sumptuary laws applicable to their new rank. The Guilder leading the ritual then places the subject's medallion around their neck and welcomes them into their new rank, typically ending the affair with a few brief remarks about the seriousness of their undertaking and some admonishments to approach it accordingly.
Promotions to high rank - Gold or Silver - typically end with lavish but decorous parties, and indeed in some cities the Conferment of Colour to such a major official is an important date on the local social calendar. Conferment of Colour to those ranking at Copper or below may prompt smaller, less well-provisioned parties, and will often be done in job lots. The Elpaloz Guildhouse, for example, inducts all of its new Lead members at a set ceremony the morning after the third new moon of the year and typically saves up its Copper Conferments until a similar ceremony three moons later; promotions outside this schedule are possible, but a convincing case for such haste must be made by a commentator in good standing with the Guilds.

Commentary

According to some interpretations, the bleached under-robe is intended to symbolise the wiping clean of the subject's institutional record, though there are other interpretations. This garment, which bears a conspicuous similarity to everyday wear by the civilian population of the northern cities, appears to have come into use around the time the Guildhouses of those cities began admitting female colleagues, and may have been intended as a concession to the modesty of such people in what was (and, to a certain extent and in some places, remains) a male-dominated organisation. Subjects now tend to wear the under-robe regardless of their gender; some will abjure it and appear nude as a symbolic gesture of gratitude or dedication, though this tends to be regard as tasteless ostentation.
Thaumatologists speculate that the Conferment of Colour, as practised in the modern era, is a watered-down version of the investiture of clerics of the pre-Wesmodian god of fortune and the sea, Zargyod, being as it is that the Guilds evolved out of the cult of this deity. They have been known to study ceremonies in progress for clues about how this cult worked. Most Guildhouses are happy to permit such rubbernecking in most instances, though the Conferment of Colour on Gold and Silver Guilders - those whose investiture may well be the most profitable to observe - are kept invitation-only.