Campaign hat

The campaign hat is occasionally referred to as a Stetson, derived from its origin in the company's Boss of the Plains model in the late 19th century.

The hat is most commonly worn as part of a uniform, by such organizations as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the New Zealand Army, United States Park Rangers, and Scouts.

[1] The name started to be used after the 1872–1876 regulations, which introduced a black felt hat—which could be drab after 1883—for fatigue use derived from the types popularized during the American Civil War.

Due to the frequent wearing of helmets in France in World War I, most troops received a copy of the French bonnet de police that became known as the overseas cap.

In Canada, the campaign hat was the official dress hat of the North-West Mounted Police (later Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who retain it as part of the full dress uniform) as well as Canadian cavalry units in the Boer War and First World War.

The campaign hat is currently worn by several law enforcement organizations, including the Alberta Sheriffs Branch, as a part of their regular uniform.

It was adopted by the Wellington Infantry Regiment about 1912 (as proposed by its commander Lieutenant Colonel William Malone)[8] and became general issue for all New Zealand units during the latter stages of World War I.

Officer cadets and the New Zealand Army Band wear this headdress with a scarlet and blue full dress uniform.

[12] The hat worn by male United States Army drill sergeants is olive drab in color with a golden Great Seal of the United States on a disc centered on the front (infantry drill sergeants have a blue disc behind the seal); this is the same insignia as traditionally worn on the service cap and the dress cap.

Male and female United States Marine Corps drill instructors and primary marksmanship instructors wear similar campaign hats with a matte black Eagle, Globe, and Anchor centered on the front; the same insignia is worn on their olive-drab combination hats.

Male United States Space Force military training instructors (MTIs) wear dark-blue hats with the USSF Delta, Globe, and Orbit with hexagram representing the six services, in silver color, again centered on the front; this is the same insignia as worn on their enlisted service cap.

USN recruit division commanders wear normal prescribed covers for their uniforms, with a red aiguillette on their shoulder to show their status.

Baden-Powell was British, but picked up the habit of wearing a Stetson campaign hat and neckerchief for the first time in 1896 in Africa during the Second Matabele War.

[21] It was during this time that Baden-Powell, already a cavalryman, was befriended by the celebrated American scout Frederick Russell Burnham, who favored the campaign hat.

[2] In the African hills it was Burnham who first introduced Baden-Powell to the ways and methods of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and taught him woodcraft (better known today as Scoutcraft).

In 1900, Baden-Powell was appointed to raise and command the South African Constabulary and he included the campaign hat as part of their uniform.

[25] Baden-Powell's uniform was widely imitated by Scout associations in many countries, but eventually began to be discarded in favor of cheaper and more practical headgear; the British Scout Association introduced the uniform beret as an alternative to the hat after World War II and finally abolished its use altogether in 1967.