red Balmoral: any military connection?

[Bugbear]

And hopefully not the faerie folk known as redcaps!

Exactly!

[EagleJCS]

The Scouts (Boy Scouts of America) used to have a red beret as part of the official headgear spectrum. (Along with the 'baseball' cap and one that looked like a military "piss-cutter" garrison cap.) I think as long as there's not a fleur-de-lis or such on your cap, there wouldn't be any mistaking the two.

As an aside, they're still considered official headgear if you have one, but they don't sell the berets or garrison caps any more. The difficulty is, to be considered 'in uniform' you should only wear them with the matching uniform (the 1950-70's olive drab version, not the tan shirt & green slacks of today). All older uniforms are still considered official (i.e. they haven't been suspended, just not mix-n-match).

[Bigkahuna]

I think there may have been a Soviet Unit that wore red berets. There may also be units of the Indian or Pakistani Armed Forces that wear red berets.

[Jack Daw]

Luggage over here, please!

Yeah, go for it; it'll look cool and different.

[JolyStNicholas]

The lady that made mine only made a few and they were gone in no time. She said she was going to make more for the up coming convention this year as they sold so well. I really like mine a lot and wear it often with my Clan Claus
Clan Badge. With Red Flashes of course.