The Cocked hat is a form of formal headgear, worn by certain civilian, military and naval officials from the mid-19th Century until the beginning of World War II and occasionally even today.

Evolved from the bicorne, the black-coloured cocked hat is triangular in shape, with the brim at the left and right sides turned up and pinned together; the front and back ends are pointed; there is usually a cockade in the national colours at the right side. It is often trimmed in gold or silver. Naval officers wore this hat without further decorations, but those worn by military and civilian officials may be lavishly decorated with coloured ostrich or swan feathers.

Navies around the world, once almost universal in using cocked hats, ceased wearing them at the beginning of World War II; after the war, however, some military, diplomatic and colonial officials have resumed wearing the cocked hat at very formal occasions, and occationally still do so today.

 

The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocked_hat   5/17/05