Cockade
A cockade is a rosette, knot of ribbons, or other symbol which is usually worn on a hat. It uses distinctive colors to show the allegiance of its wearer to some political faction, their rank, or as part of a servant's livery.
Cockades were widely worn by revolutionaries and proponents of various political factions in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. Distinctive colours and styles of cockade would indicate the wearer's faction --although the meanings of the various styles were not entirely consistent, and varied somewhat by region and period.
Today, the term is often used to indicate the tricolour cockade in specific, which became a relatively common symbol of nationalism during the French Revolutionary Wars.
National cockades are painted on certain military airplanes:
- from the inside to the outside blue, white and red on the French military planes (those from the French navy have a black anchor drawn upon the cockade);
- from the inside to the outside red, white and blue on the British Royal Air Force plane.
