Which Hat or Nae Hat?

[FossilHunter]

Remember that you are going to be in the UK where British military colours, traditions and feelings may run a different course.

I'm curious how far this goes though. What if a unit just happens to wear a beret in a common balmoral color?

The Australian SAS appears to wear a beret in a color very similar to fawn:



I though green was a pretty traditional color for balmorals but now I wonder how far someone is expected to go to avoid being seen as "dressing in another's uniform."

Or does this all just apply to Scottish units that actually wear balmorals, toorie and all?

[Benning Boy]

It's my understanding that British SAS wear a tan beret, as do the SAS regiments of Australia and New Zealand, and maybe Canadians, too.

Our Rangers now wear berets of the same color. They wore black ones for the longest time. An Army chief of staff decided Rangers looked sharp in their black berets and all soldiers who had completed their initial training and had moved on to their units should begin wearing black berets. That POed the Rangers, and so they started wearing "SAS" berets. They concocted some story about how they had earned the right to now wear the new color, just as they had earlier concocted some story about how they had earned the right to wear black berets. I say concocted as to my mind the myths about the colors of US Army berets don't hold up on close examination. The myths are rooted in things that supposedly happened in Britain in WW2. Why American forces need to copy Brits is beyond me. At the end of my service I wore the standardized black beret as required,, and have a Ranger connection I have heard the black beret story many times.

I sometimes wear an Army black beret without devices and no one has called me out. I also have two maroon berets that I also wear, and neither is a US Army item of uniform although they look it from a little distance.

I doubt anyone could rightly criticize someone wearing a beret in US Army colors as long as it were worn without devices. Likewise wearing a bonnet of any military color should pass muster. Put whatever you want on your head. The Martial of Dodge City, Kansas wears a Stetson with his kilt, but then he wears the fanciest pair of custom cowboy boots I've ever seen with it, too.

I'm curious how far this goes though. What if a unit just happens to wear a beret in a common balmoral color?

The Australian SAS appears to wear a beret in a color very similar to fawn:



I though green was a pretty traditional color for balmorals but now I wonder how far someone is expected to go to avoid being seen as "dressing in another's uniform."

Or does this all just apply to Scottish units that actually wear balmorals, toorie and all?

[48HofC]

When David Sterling created the SAS the original beret colour proposed was in fact white. Because they originated in Egypt and desert warfare was first and foremost, the sand colour was adopted out of pure logic. At one point some squadrons wore the maroon ones once the desert campaign ended, but tan was the proper one that won out in the end.

[MacKenzie]

I can't fathom how someone could see a green Balmoral and identify it as a military "green beret".

[ctbuchanan]

plantbadge.jpg

This is the Oak/Acorn badge I spoke off.

[FossilHunter]

I can't fathom how someone could see a green Balmoral and identify it as a military "green beret".

Yes. This is what I was getting at. There seem to be a number of colors that are traditionally appropriate for balmorals that are also used in military berets. Pale blue (lovat blue), tan (fawn), shades of green, and even black.

How likely is it that anyone will think that someone in a dark green balmoral (with toorie and clan badge) is claiming to be a green beret? How far are we expected to go to avoid being accused of "playing soldier?"

I think benning boy has it right that without insignia, it is really just a hat.

[FossilHunter]

As for the balmoral previously posted in "special forces green." That just sounds like marketing to me. I think the hats on that site come from Pakistan and are not directly associated with any military; Scottish, American, or otherwise.

[Taskr]

Military caps and hats have mostly been adopted from civilian headwear of various era. I would think that as long as the wearer is not trying to make any usually civilian head covering "look military" there should not be a problem.

[ctbuchanan]

I can't fathom how someone could see a green Balmoral and identify it as a military "green beret".

The green balmoral I wear
balmoral_green.jpg

And the Special Forces Beret - I agree with all that it would be a stretch to confuse the two.

green-beret.jpg

[Sparky McFizzlenuts]

The green balmoral I wear
balmoral_green.jpg

And the Special Forces Beret - I agree with all that it would be a stretch to confuse the two.

green-beret.jpg

I am not a member of the SF regiment, however I am an honorary member of the Special Forces Association and have had some pretty significant contact with them here in the states, both the regiment and with JFKSWCS via my work with some Special Forces veterans and Montagnard tribesmen. I can say, with pretty fair confidence, that the average SF guy or vet isn't going to give anyone wearing a forest green balmoral with (or without) a kilt a second look. You toss a flash and crest on a green military beret and pull the stolen valor crap - while wearing a kilt, you will be eating the beret, kilt and sporran rather quickly should any of them find you :-)