Which Hat or Nae Hat?

[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 :-)

[OC Richard]

Keep in mind that Balmorals are not berets.

A recurring thing in this thread is wanting to compare/conflate the two.

They have nothing to do with one another, they stem from different traditions and so forth.

In civilian Highland Dress, the dark green used on bonnets, jackets, and hose is usually called Bottle Green and has no military connexions or connotations, so you can put all those worries out of your mind.

In civilian Highland Dress the beige used on bonnets is called "fawn" (as pointed out above) and likewise has no military connexions or connotations.

Highland military No1 Dress doublets are an extremely dark green, nearly black, called Archer Green.

Highland military bonnets worn with No1 Dress are an extremely dark blue, those worn in combat and in several other forms of dress are the colour called "khaki" in the UK which corresponds to "olive drab" in the USA. (The military shirt colour called "khaki" in the USA is called "stone" in the UK.)

Just to get all that UK/USA colour nomenclature clear.

Anyhow yes if you're in civilian Highland Day Dress any of the traditional civilian bonnet colours is fine and none of them have any military connexions or connotations whatsoever. They're purely civilian colour choices.

Commonly seen are fawn, Lovat green, Lovat blue, St Andrews blue (all somewhat pale colours) and deeper colours such as royal blue, bottle green, claret, navy blue, and black.

Some modern gents at a Scottish Highland Games (the Argyllshire Gathering) showing a range of bonnet colours



The Scottish military Tam O Shanter or TOS in khaki (US olive drab) is made of woven yardage cut and sewn to shape, unlike traditional Balmoral bonnets which are knit and shaped.

[FossilHunter]

Keep in mind that Balmorals are not berets.

A recurring thing in this thread is wanting to compare/conflate the two.

They have nothing to do with one another, they stem from different traditions and so forth.

In civilian Highland Dress, the dark green used on bonnets, jackets, and hose is usually called Bottle Green and has no military connexions or connotations, so you can put all those worries out of your mind.

In civilian Highland Dress the beige used on bonnets is called "fawn" (as pointed out above) and likewise has no military connexions or connotations.

Highland military No1 Dress doublets are an extremely dark green, nearly black, called Archer Green.

Highland military bonnets worn with No1 Dress are an extremely dark blue, those worn in combat and in several other forms of dress are the colour called "khaki" in the UK which corresponds to "olive drab" in the USA. (The military shirt colour called "khaki" in the USA is called "stone" in the UK.)

Just to get all that UK/USA colour nomenclature clear.

Anyhow yes if you're in civilian Highland Day Dress any of the traditional civilian bonnet colours is fine and none of them have any military connexions or connotations whatsoever. They're purely civilian colour choices.

Commonly seen are fawn, Lovat green, Lovat blue, St Andrews blue (all somewhat pale colours) and deeper colours such as royal blue, bottle green, claret, navy blue, and black.

Some modern gents at a Scottish Highland Games (the Argyllshire Gathering) showing a range of bonnet colours



The Scottish military Tam O Shanter or TOS in khaki (US olive drab) is made of woven yardage cut and sewn to shape, unlike traditional Balmoral bonnets which are knit and shaped.

To be fair, someone shared a link to a balmoral bonnet marketed as "special forces green" and another poster suggested that it may be inappropriate to wear a "significant coloured bonnet" to an event where there would be numerous military veterans.

I don't think anyone made the claim that berets and balmorals were the same. It was simply pointed out that if one cannot wear a bonnet in dark green because a military unit wears hats in that color, than you will quickly run out of available color options since military berets of almost every color used in balmoral bonnets exist.

I do however agree with your position that a balmoral in any color, when worn with civilian clothes (an sans insignia) should be considered appropriate.

[OC Richard]

To be fair, someone shared a link to a balmoral bonnet marketed as "special forces green" and another poster suggested that it may be inappropriate to wear a "significant coloured bonnet" to an event where there would be numerous military veterans.

My point was that no Scottish-made bonnets intended for the civilian market are made in "significant" colours- it's pure fashion.

And that Scottish military bonnets are extremely dark blue or khaki (olive drab).

Seems to me that the very notion of calling a Scottish bonnet "special forces green" is confusing Highland civilian dress with American military dress... it's as inappropriate as saying a car painted British Racing Green is painted "special forces green". You can't legitimately go around the world labeling every object of a similar colour "special forces green".

[48HofC]

My point was that no Scottish-made bonnets intended for the civilian market are made in "significant" colours- it's pure fashion.

And that Scottish military bonnets are extremely dark blue or khaki (olive drab).

Seems to me that the very notion of calling a Scottish bonnet "special forces green" is confusing Highland civilian dress with American military dress... it's as inappropriate as saying a car painted British Racing Green is painted "special forces green". You can't legitimately go around the world labeling every object of a similar colour "special forces green".

This is neither here nor there but just a bit of trivia. After the unification of the Canadian forces in the the late 60's, the general issue beret adopted for the entire Forces including airforce and navy was the same colour as the special forces green which has been mentioned on here. The Scottish regiments were issued balmorals in the same colour so as to match everyone else. Generally they were worn with work dress/garrison dress up until the mid 90's then phased out in favour of the glengarry and khaki/fawn balmorals. There are some units that opted to keep them, but they are no longer the norm.