Ian McKellen Receives Honorary Doctorate From Cambridge, Actor's Alma Mater Flies a Rainbow Flag in His Honor

Lord of the Rings star shares a pic of the flag flying high over St Catharine's college, where he studied as a lad

The degrees keep on coming for Dr. Sir Ian McKellen.

The Lord of the Rings star received another honorary doctorate, this one from Britain's University of Cambridge, his alma mater—and in addition to giving him yet another title to use, his old stomping grounds paid a very visible touching tribute to the 75-year-old actor as well.

"I am now an honorary Doctor of Letters at Cambridge University UK. My old college St Catharine's celebrated by flying the rainbow flag," McKellen, who studied English literature at the renowned academic institution as a lad, wrote in a Facebook post today.

Post by Ian McKellen.

A photo shows the classically trained thesp—wearing a string of beads, a Panama hat and a summer sweater—standing outside St Catharine's, the camera angled to catch the flag flying high behind him.

And the stage and screen star's necklace appears to be pink and maroon, a nod to Catz's scarf colors.

McKellen is now an honorary doctor twice over—the University of Ulster in Ireland bestowed the title on him last year.

We can only imagine how he and pal Patrick Stewart—himself the recipient of an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of East Anglia in 2011—are going to celebrate!