Beret

A beret (UK: {{IPA|}}, US: {{IPA|}}; IPA) 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 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. 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.

Related Topics:
British Armed Forces - United States Army - Armoured fighting vehicle - United Nations Peacekeeping

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Berets have a few features that make them very attractive to the military: They are cheap and easy to make in large numbers, they can be rolled up and stuffed into a pocket without damage and they can be worn with headphones (this is one of the reasons why tank crews came to like the beret). However, they are not so useful in field conditions for an infantryman, as they do not offer the protection for the face against sun and rain that a peaked cap does.

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Canada

• Maroon ? jump-qualified personnel in parachute units
• Black ? armoured units and navy
• Scarlet ? military police
• Rifle green ? other army units (except that instead of berets, Scottish and Irish infantry wear balmorals and caubeens respectively)
• Blue ? air force
• Orange ? search and rescue technicians

Finland

The Finnish Defence Force uses berets with cap badges for the Army, Navy, and the Air Force. The berets are worn in ?clean? garrison duties such as roll calls and with the out-going uniform but not with the battle dress. Until mid-1990's, the beret was reserved for troops with special status, but is nowadays used by all units. In the winter, berets are replaced by winter headgear.

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Berets are also used by the Finnish Frontier Guard, which is a military organization under the aegis of Ministry of Interior.

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• Green (Badge: silver lion's head) - Army
• Green (Badge: golden lion's head) - Finnish Rapid Deployment Force and units abroad
• Light blue (Badge: Air Force insignia) - Air Force
• Light blue (Badge: Harp and sword) - Military bands
• Dark blue (Badge: Anchor and Lion) - Navy (including coastal troops)
• Black (Badge: Armored head) - Armoured Brigade
• Light green (Badge: Golden eagle's head) - Coastal jaeger
• Maroon (Badge Arrow and parachute) - Parachute jaeger or special jaeger (Utti Jaeger Regiment)
• Green (Badge: Golden bear's head, sword and fir tree twig) - Frontier jaeger

France

• Wide black ? chasseurs alpins
• Green ? naval commandos; Foreign Legion paratroops (on operations)
• Dark blue ? air commandos

Germany

The German Heer uses berets with cap badges for every branch of service. The Luftwaffe and the Navy issue dark purple berets only to their ground or land combat units (called Luftwaffen- and Marine-Sicherungsstaffeln). Berets are usually worn at special ceremonies and roll calls, although units with a special esprit de corps, especially armoured and mechanized infantry battalions, wear their berets all the time.

Related Topics:
Heer - Luftwaffe - Navy

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• Black ? armoured units
• Dark red ? infantry scouts, paratroopers, Light Aircraft Group, KSK
• Light red ? artillery, engineers, intelligence, intelligence and propaganda ("operative information"), anti-aircraft, supply, NBC-protection, signals, electronic warfare, transport, topography
• Dark green ? light infantry, Panzergrenadiers (mechanized infantry), Panzerjägers (anti-tank), ceremonial guards, military bands
• Dark blue ? medical

Israel

Israeli Defense Forces soldiers wear berets only on formal occasions, such as ceremonies and roll calls. The beret is placed beneath the left shoulder strap while wearing the Class-A (formal) uniform, but not while wearing the Class-B (regular duty) uniform. The beret colors are as follows:

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• Olive green ? General Service Corps, recruits
• Black ? armored corps, designated infantry
• Pale blue ? artillery corps
• Maroon ? paratroopers brigade, general staff units (Sayeret Matkal and others)
• Pale green ? Nahal Brigade
• Purple ? Givati Brigade
• Brown ? Golani Brigade
• Deep green ? Intelligence Directorate, Border Police
• Orange ? Home Front Command
• Gray ? Engineering Corps
• Blue ? military police
• Deep blue ? navy
• Gray-blue ? air force

Italy

Italian Army personnel used to wear a garrison cap alongside the combination cap, until the early 1980s when the garrison cap was replaced by the beret.

Related Topics:
Italian Army - Garrison cap

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The beret is used in the various armed forces of Italy. The colours used are:

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• Maroon ? paratroopers
• Blue ? army aviation
• Black ? all army units except the above-mentioned ones
• Green ? navy special forces (Incursori)
• Teal blue ? air force guards

Norway

The Norwegian armed forces use the beret as a garrison cap, but some units also use it in field, mostly armored vehicle personnel. The colours used are (incomplete list):

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• Bright blue ? 6th Division (with exceptions)
• Red ? Military police
• Light red ? HJK
• Black ? Intelligence; Armour
• Maroon ? Paratroopers
• Khaki ? 2nd Battalion
• Dark blue ? Royal Norwegian Navy; Royal Norwegian Air Force
• Emerald green ? Telemark Battalion
• Dark green ? GSV; border guards

Portugal

In the Armed Forces of Portugal, the following berets are in use:

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• Emerald green ? Paratroopers
• Brown ? Army general use
• Black ? Cavalry (except Cavalry Paratroopers)
• Red ? Commandos
• Grass green ? Special Operations
• Navy blue ? Marines
• Sky blue ? Air Force Police

Singapore

The Singapore Armed Forces adopted the beret as their standard headgear. The different color divisions are as follows:

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• Green ? infantry
• Black ? armour
• Khaki ? guards
• Maroon ? commandos
• Blue ? support and artillery
• Air force blue ? Air Force (contrary to its name, the beret is closer to green in color)

The berets are all adorned with the Singapore Armed Forces coat of arms, with the exception of the Air Force beret, which is decorated with the Air Force badge instead. Regimental police serving in the navy use the same color as the Air Force; however, it has the Navy's badge instead.

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South Africa

The South African Army wears the beret as its standard headgear. The different color divisions are as follows:

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• Green ? infantry
• Black ? armour
• Maroon ? Parabats and Special Forces
• Blue ? Logistics
• Camouflage ? 61 Mechanised Infantry Battalion Group

The berets are all adorned with the unit's insignia. Some of the traditional units wear other headgear - for example, the Cape Town Highlanders Regiment and the South African Medical Services.

Related Topics:
Cape Town Highlanders Regiment - South African Medical Services

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Sweden

The beret is used in the various armed forces of Sweden. The colours used are:

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• Black (formerly dark blue) ? Armoured units
• Maroon ? Paratroopers
• Bright red ? Musicians
• Green ? Rangers
• Green (formerly dark blue) ? Amphibious troops
• Blue ? Army aviation
• Sand ? foreign
• Brown ? Home Guard
• Dark blue ? All other units

Thailand

The beret is used in the various armed forces of Thailand. The colours used are:

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• Maroon ? Paratroops, Special Forces
• Khaki green ? Army Reserve Force Students
• Black ? all other Army units, Air Force, Thahan Phran, Paratroop Police, Border Patrol Police
• Camouflage ? Royal Thai Marine Corps

The black beret is also worn by ordinary police in certain situations.

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United Kingdom

The British Army was the first to adopt modern-style berets as part of its 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.

Related Topics:
British Army - 1918 - French - Chasseurs Alpins - Tank Corps - Hugh Elles - Tank - Basque - Tam o'shanter - George V - 1923 - 1924

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Today, every British military unit wears a beret, with the exception of Scottish and Irish line infantry regiments, who wear the tam o'shanter and the caubeen respectively (the Scots Guards and Irish Guards, however, wear berets, as frequently do the Royal Irish Regiment on operations). Many of these berets are in distinctive colours and all are worn with the cap badge of the service, regiment or corps.

Related Topics:
Caubeen - Scots Guards - Irish Guards - Royal Irish Regiment - Cap badge - Regiment - Corps

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The colours are as follows:

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• 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 ? Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry, Light Infantry, Royal Green Jackets, Royal Gurkha Rifles
• Maroon ? Parachute Regiment, other troops serving in airborne role (not necessarily jump qualified)
• Beige ? Special Air Service
• Sky blue ? Army Air Corps
• Cypress green ? Intelligence Corps
• Scarlet ? Royal Military Police
• Green ? Adjutant General's Corps
• Navy blue ? all other Army units (except Scottish and Irish line infantry regiments), Royal Navy, Royal Marines who are not commando-qualified
• Commando green ? commando-qualified Royal Marines, other commando-qualified troops serving in commando units
• RAF blue ? Royal Air Force (including RAF Regiment)

Members of 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.

Related Topics:
Peaked caps - Colonel - Brigadier - General - Royal Regiment of Fusiliers - Royal Welch Fusiliers - Hackle

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United States

The United States Army Special Forces are generally known as "green berets" for the color of their headgear. Other United States Army units can also be distinguished by the color of their headgear, as follows:

Related Topics:
United States Army Special Forces - United States Army

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• Green ? Special Forces
• Tan ? Rangers
• Maroon ? paratroopers
• Black ? all other Army units

Berets were originally worn only by elite units of the U.S. 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 tan berets.

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The wearing of berets in the United States Air Force is somewhat less common, but several career fields are authorized to wear berets of differing colours, as specified in the following list:

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• Maroon ? Pararescue
• Scarlet ? Combat Controllers
• Grey ? Combat Weathermen
• Royal blue ? Security Forces
• Pewter-green ? Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Specialists (SEREs)
• Black ? Air Liaison Officers (ALOs), Air Mobility Liaison Officers (AMLOs), Tactical Air Control Parties (TACPs)