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Beret, Beret

Army Rangers, or the wide black of French Chasseurs alpins, the first military unit to have worn berets.

The drawstrings are, according to custom, either tied and cut off/tucked in or else left to dangle. The beret is often adorned with a cap badge, either in cloth or metal. Some berets have a piece of buckram or other stiffener in the position where the badge is intended to be worn. Berets are also often lined with silk, imitation silk, or other material. Though in some militaries the liner is removed in order to shape (called "forming") the beret, this is usually done without permission from a superior officer because it impedes its head-warming capacities.In military berets, the headband is turned down (which makes it visible); but, in the Basque-style beret (also worn by selected military units such as the Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais), it is usually folded in.

Military berets are usually pulled to the right, but the armies of some European countries (including France) have influenced the pull to the left.

This was so unfamiliar a fashion outside France that it had to be described in an British encyclopedia in 1911 as "a sort of tam o'shanter hat". Encyclopaedia Britannica , 1911 Edition Berets have features that make them very attractive to the military: They are cheap and easy to make in large numbers, they can be manufactured in a wide range of colours to enhance branch or regimental esprit de corps, 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 adopt 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 or wide brimmed hat does.

German AFV crews in the late 1930s also adopted a beret with the addition of a padded crash helmet inside. The colour black became popular as a tank crew headdress since it did not show oil stains picked up inside the interior of a vehicle. Black berets continue to be worn by armoured regiments throughout the Commonwealth.

The beret is now worn by elements of the military personnel of the majority of nations across the world. The three major hold-outs were the United States, Russia, and China (PRC) - all have now followed the example of the other armies in adopting berets.

Terracotta berets are worn by Multinational Force and Observers contingents. In all cases, the beret is pulled to the right and a badge worn above the left eye.

The black beret, which is now the headdress of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (RCAC), was first worn by the Essex Regiment (Tank), now renamed The Windsor Regiment (RCAC). This was because the other new tank units were ordered to wear the headdress that they had while serving as infantry. The Essex Regiment (Tank) was a new unit, formed as a tank regiment, with no connection to the Infantry. As such, it picked the headdress that was worn by the Royal Tank Corps of the British Army.

In certain cases the beret is even used as Ceremonial Dress, most commonly in units of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.

The beret displays the small state coat of arms and the badge of rank of the individual.

Until the mid-1990s, the beret was reserved for troops with special status, such as the coastal jgers and the parachute jgers, but is nowadays used by all units. In the winter, berets are replaced by winter headgear.

Between the wars, special fortress units raised to garrison the Maginot Line wore khaki berets as did the 13th DBLE of the French Foreign Legion when it was created in 1940. The beret in red, blue or green was a distinction of the Metropolitan, Colonial and Foreign Legion paratroop regiments during the Indochina and Algerian wars. After 1962 the beret in either khaki or the colours specified above became the standard French Army headdress for ordinary use.With the exception of the Naval Commandos whose beret emulates the British Commando beret and is worn pulled to the right with the badge worn over the left ear and the Naval Fusiliers commandos also part of the French Navy, all other French berets (Army, airforce and gendarmerie GIGN) are pulled to the left with the badge worn on the right side over the eye or the temple.

This colour is shown in a patch of cloth behind the beret flash. The intendance (maroon), transport troops (blue), military administration (pink; hence the nickname 'Pink Mafia'), technical service (black), and medical troops and service (green) lost their colours and all now wear yellow patches.

The Chasseurs alpins wore a distinctive large beret (see above) and Major-General Sir Hugh Elles, the TC's Colonel, realised this style of headdress would be a practical option for his tank crews, forced to work 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.

Later in the war, a rather baggier beret-like hat, called a General Service Cap, was issued to all ranks of the British Army (with RAC, parachute, commando, Scottish and Irish units excepted), to replace the earlier Field Service Cap.

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.

For paramilitary organizations consisting of General Operations Forces, the berets worn by the units is Dark blue with Khaki Hackle for ceremony, and the paramilitary Senoi Praaq Brigade wear maroon berets also with Khaki Hackle. The dark blue berets with Light Blue Hackle was worn by Marine Police Branch and high school student's Royal Police Cadet Corps. The anti-riot Federal Reserve Units (FRU) wearing the red berets with black hackle.

The beret was, however, retained for specialist forces, such as officers of the Special Operations Command (SOC) and the Police Coast Guard, as well as the Gurkha Contingent. A dark blue beret is worn, although the Police Tactical Unit of the SOC switched to red berets in 2005. The Gurkha Contingent began wearing khaki-coloured berets from 2006.

The British and Hong Kong Air Scouts wear blue berets. The official Scouts Canada uniform included a beret between 1968 and 1998 (it was green until 1992, then navy blue). It is slowly making a comeback among the older members in various forms, such as red for Rover Scouts in British Columbia. The Boy Scouts of America are authorized to wear a red beret, although the BSA itself no longer makes them and very few scout troops or scouts wear them.

They wear the same color as their affiliated regular force unit, unless there is no affiliated unit, in which case a black beret is worn.

Michael Crawford also wore a beret as Frank Spencer. Other entertainment figures identified with the beret include Jamie Hyneman of MythBusters , and Fred Berry who played Rerun in What's Happening!

Source: Wikipedia > Beret