Beret
A beret (UK: ["bE-reI], US: [b@-"reI]; SAMPA) is
a soft round cap with a flat crown which is worn by both men and women. The cap fits snugly
around the head, and the soft crown can be shaped in a variety of ways – it is commonly pushed to one side. Berets were
originally worn by Northern Basque peasants and were knitted from wool. Today berets are normally made from wool
felt.
Berets are associated with a variety of different people. A beret completes the image of the Stereotypical Frenchman (even though berets are fairly rare in France nowadays) or French peasants;
artists, painters and intellectuals. It also was the stereotypical headgear of film directors until it was replaced in the public eye
with the baseball cap in the 1980s.
It also became the standard headgear of the Castilian peasant.
Berets are also worn by some scout groups and are part of the stereotype of
Beatniks.
Berets in the military
Berets are a part of certain military uniforms, such as those of the British Armed Forces and the United States Army. Berets are traditionally worn by those in armoured fighting vehicles. The traditional colour for tank personell is a dark blue. Light blue berets are worn by United Nations Peacekeeping forces. Military berets are usually pulled to the right, but the militaries of
some European countries (including France) and countries they have influenced pull them to the left.
Canada
- Army- Rifle Green
- Personnel in Parachute Units- Maroon (If Qualified)
- Armored Crews- Black
- Military Police- Scarlet
- Naval Personnel- Navy Blue (Almost black)
- Air Force- Blue
- UN Missions- Light Blue
- Search and Rescue Technicians- Orange
Finland
- navy - dark blue
- infantry - green
- marine - green
- paratrooper - red
Spain
The beret, or boina in Basque, was introduced in Spain during the First Carlist War. Carlists wore red berets (txapelgorri in Basque, that took the meaning of
"Carlist soldier") and Isabellines white ones. The red beret became a Falange symbol
when Carlism was merged into it.
Today the Basque police force Ertzaintza wears red berets.
Sweden
The beret is used in the various armed forces of Sweden. The colours used are
- tanks - black (earlier dark blue)
- paratrooper - maroon
- musician - bright red
- ranger - green
- amphibous - green (earlier dark blue)
- army air - blue
- foreign - sand
- home guard - brown
United Kingdom
The British Army were the first to adopt modern-style berets as part of
their uniform. In 1918, the French 70th
Chasseurs Alpins were training with the British Tank Corps. The Chasseurs Alpins wore a distinctive large beret and
Major-General Sir Hugh Elles, the TC's
Colonel, realised that the beret would be practical headwear for his tank crews, forced to
move in a reduced space. He thought, however, that the Chasseur beret was "too sloppy" and the Basque style beret of the French tank crews was "too skimpy", so a compromise based on the Scottish tam o'shanter was designed and submitted for the approval of George V in November 1923. It was adopted in March
1924.
Today, every British military unit wears a beret, with the exception of Scottish and Irish infantry regiments, who wear the
tam o'shanter and the caubeen respectively.
Many of these berets are in distinctive colours and all are worn with the cap
badge of the service, regiment or corps.
The colours are as follows:
- Khaki - Foot Guards, Household Cavalry, Honourable Artillery Company, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, Royal Anglian Regiment, Green Howards
- Light grey - Royal Scots Dragoon Guards,
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
- Brown - King's
Royal Hussars
- Black - Royal Tank Regiment
- Dark (Rifle) green - Light Infantry, Royal Green Jackets, Royal Gurkha Rifles
- Maroon - Parachute Regiment, other troops serving in
airborne role
- Beige - Special Air Service
- Sky blue - Army Air Corps
- Grass green - Intelligence Corps
- Scarlet - Royal Military Police
- Green - Adjutant General's Corps
- Navy blue - all other Army units, Royal Navy, Royal Marines Band Service
- Commando green - Royal Marines (except Band Service), other commando-qualified troops
- RAF blue - Royal Air Force (including RAF Regiment)
The Royal Tank Regiment, Army Air Corps, Parachute Regiment and SAS never wear any other form of uniform headgear except the
beret (i.e. they do not wear peaked caps). Troops from other services, regiments or corps on attachment to units with distinctive
coloured berets often wear those berets (with their own cap badge). Colonels,
brigadiers and generals usually
continue to wear the beret of the regiment or corps to which they used to belong with the cap badge distinctive to their rank.
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and Royal Welch Fusiliers wear a coloured feather hackle on the beret.
United States
The United States Army Special
Forces are generally known as "green berets" for the color of their headgear. Other US Army units can also be distinguished
by the color of their headgear, as follows:
Berets were originally worn only by elite units of the US Army. Hence, there was controversy when in 2001 the United States Army adopted the black beret, previously reserved for the Rangers, as standard headgear
for all army units. The Rangers are now distinguished by brown berets.
In the United States Air Force, the uniform of
security police personnel includes a dark blue beret.
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