A feather in your cap

[1][2] Or in other cases from the custom of establishing the success of a hunter as being the first to bag a game bird by plucking off the feathers of that prey and placing them in the hat band.

[1][3] The phrase today has altered to a more peaceful allusion, where it is used to refer to any laudable success or achievement by an individual that may help that person in the future.

[1] Similar customs are thought to have been practiced by the Mongols,[5] Incas; Caciques; Abyssinians; Tur’comans; Hungarians; Dayak people; and the ancient Lycians.

[1][3] Other examples of feathers in caps which appear to be related to hunters and warriors can be found in mythological stories of historical figures such as the Austrian bailiff of Altdorf, Albrecht Gessler an aggressor who made Swiss national hero William Tell shoot an apple from the head of his son.

Indeed, the Tyrolean hat of today, worn in the Austrian Alps has a cord wrapped around the base of the crown and a feather or brush on the side as trim.