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Houses, crests and uniforms
HBO’s Harry Potter has redesigned almost everything that carries the Hogwarts name: the school crest, the four house emblems, the uniforms and the Quidditch kit. The costumes are by Holly Waddington, who won an Oscar for Poor Things. Here is what has been shown so far, and how it compares with the books and the films.
The Hogwarts crest
The films used a coat of arms with the four house animals. The series replaces it with a golden letter “H”, with roots growing below it and branches above [SlashFilm]. It fits the look of the whole series, which the production designer, Mara LePere-Schloop, built around nature, with vines growing inside the castle corridors [HarryPotter.com].
The book has both ideas. Harry’s Hogwarts letter is sealed with “a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter ‘H’” (ch. 3).
The house emblems
The new house emblems were first shown in late August 2026: round medallions with each house’s name on a ribbon and a border of leaves [MuggleNet].
| House | Emblem in the series | Colours in the books |
|---|---|---|
| Gryffindor | A gold lion on red | Scarlet and gold |
| Slytherin | A serpent on muted green | Green and silver |
| Hufflepuff | A badger, shown whole, on yellow | Yellow and black |
| Ravenclaw | A golden eagle on dark blue | Blue and bronze |
Ravenclaw’s eagle follows the books; the films gave the house a raven. Not every fan liked the new designs: one of the lions was compared to “a fire-breathing chicken” [Gulf News].
On the outdoor set near Watford, the house animals were also shaped as living hedges in the castle grounds: a lion, an eagle, a snake and a badger [ComicBookMovie]. Set photos, fans.
The uniforms
The series is set in 1991, and Holly Waddington dressed the Muggle world in the pastels and synthetic fabrics of the time, against an “inky”, natural palette for the wizarding world. The uniforms are made of British wool and cotton, with wood and shell buttons and Scottish tartan [HarryPotter.com]. Costumes shown at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas in May 2026 revealed more [MuggleNet]:
- The robes are made of mohair and wool, and carry a stylised “H” in the colour of each house instead of a house crest.
- The girls’ uniform has a tartan by Lochcarron that combines the four house colours, with a sash in the colour of their house.
- The knitwear comes from Lochaven of Ayrshire, in Scotland.
- In the teasers the students wear a shirt and tie under their robes, and the pointed hats seem to be gone.
In the book, the uniform list that comes with Harry’s letter asks for “three sets of plain work robes (black)”, “one plain pointed hat (black) for day wear”, a pair of protective gloves and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings (ch. 5). If the hats have really gone, it is one more difference from the book.
The first-years in their robes
Harry, Ron and HermioneThe Quidditch kit
The Quidditch kit takes ideas from fencing, British motocross and the school tracksuits of the early 1990s, with lightly padded jackets and a “sun-ray” pattern in the house colours [MuggleNet]. In the book, the Gryffindor team wears scarlet robes and Slytherin green (ch. 11). Harry’s Nimbus Two Thousand arrives in a black-and-red box in the first teaser, and the tie-in book cover shows Harry in Gryffindor Quidditch robes in the snow.
Filming a Quidditch match
Harry in Quidditch robesThe Sorting
The Sorting Hat in the teasers is patched and frayed, with a rip near the brim, as in the book, where it is “patched and frayed and extremely dirty” (ch. 7). The four house tables in the Great Hall stay.
Harry under the Sorting HatImages © HBO / Warner Bros. Discovery. See also the sets and locations and the official images.
