Two Republican state assemblymen have announced they are drafting legislation to allow high school students to wear military sashes at graduation ceremonies.

The bill would require New Jersey school districts to let students joining a military branch to wear “official articles such as a sash that denotes the branch in which they enlisted.”

The legislation is sponsored by Assemblyman Ned Thomson and Assemblyman Ryan Peters. It is in response to a recent situation in Point Pleasant Borough where a graduate was told that he could not wear his sash indicating that he was joining the Marines at commencement.

“While schools will retain the authority to govern decorum at graduation, the students joining the armed forces are deserving of special recognition for their decision to serve our nation,” Thomson said in a statement.

Peters, a former Navy SEAL, said showing support for the graduating students entering the military is an important way to boost morale.