Sigma Chi Fraternity does not allow pledges to wear the Greek letters. However, they may wear shirts with the words "Sigma Chi" or "Sigs". This is a national regulation.

My understanding is that new members of Pi Beta Phi and Alpha Epsilon Phi may not wear letters until after initiation as well.

And Phi Gamma Delta is not our brother fraternity and Beta Theta Pi is not our father fraternity! :)

Pi Phi's can wear full letters before initiation.

I actually have no idea if NM's are allowed to wear the crest, because at least when I was a collegian, such a thing wasn't exactly fashionable anyway.

It wasn't wearing the coat of arms that was a big deal when I was a pledge - it was not having it on your car! As soon as we were initiated, everyone put those decals on their cars.

Same here! COuldn't wait to get that decal!

Ditto!

Must have been a campus thing then, because the Pi Phis I knew made a huge deal about getting their first set of Greeks after initiation.

More on Greek letter restrictions here, BTW:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=1320

Same for me and the Pi Phis that I know from multiple schools. In fact, this is the first that I have heard that Pi Phi could wear the letters as a new members. But given the poster's username, I would trust that she knows best!

The ChiOs on my campus also waited until initiation, but maybe that is a campus thing too?

And finally, concur on the car decals... that was such a rite-of-passage for everyone that I knew!

We're not an NPC, but Omega Phi Alpha only allows initiated lifetime members to wear the Greek letters, although we permit pledges and colonists to wear the name written out in words. Many chapters have a tradition of a newly initiated member receiving her first set of letters from her big sister immediately following initiation.

AOII allows NM to wear our letters from the time they sign their bid. They are also allowed to wear their NM pins but not the badge until initiation. When I was in school, my chapter thought that NMs couldn't have anything with the red rose on it until initiation and we took that VERY seriously. I remember being so happy to get my red roses for initiation. It didn't mean anymore to me, it just meant that I could have them, too.

For Pi Phi, it might be a fairly recent policy, as well. I know when my mom was a pledge, she could have the letters written out, but not the full Greeks. Our Hazing Awareness Guide states, "New members of Pi Beta Phi are free to wear all three Greek letters and the full name of Pi Beta
Phi on clothing and jewelry; no local chapter traditions may override this."

I'm pretty sure the coat of arms / crest is a no until initiation. Letters, yes.

Only alumnae can wear the badge as jewelry. =)

In Sinfonia, probationary members (our term for pledges) cannot wear the Greek letters or wear/display the coat of arms.

New members of AEPhi may not wear the Greek letters. They can wear items that say "AEPhi" or "Alpha Epsilon Phi", but not "ΑΕΦ".

They can wear the crest, in a manner of speaking - the new member pin is the crest, minus the Greek letters at the top of the columns.

I don't know about car decals. Car ownership was highly discouraged at my school. When I was an active, no one in my chapter owned a car.