Military beret

[1] The French Chasseurs alpins, created in the early 1880s, were the first regular unit to wear the military beret as a standard headgear.

[2] These mountain troops were issued with a uniform which included several features which were innovative for the time, notably the large and floppy blue beret which they still retain.

[6] German Panzertruppen also adopted a black beret or Schutzmütze in 1934, which included a rubber skull cap as head protection inside.

[15] The Austrian coat of arms is worn on the left side of the beret (officers in gold, NCOs in silver, enlisted personnel as well as conscripts in dark grey).

[28] After the war, in 1948, the newly established Czechoslovak Airborne forces adopted the maroon beret, inspired by those worn by the British Paras.

[32] Berets are worn by all personnel of the Ecuadorian Army (Ejército) and certain members of the Navy (Armada) and Air Force (Fuerza Aérea), with distinctive colours for some units or functions.

The military beret originated in the French Army, in the form of the wide and floppy headdress worn by the Chasseurs Alpins (mountain light infantry) from their foundation in the early 1880s.

Between the wars, special fortress units raised to garrison the Maginot Line wore khaki berets as did the 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion when it was created in 1940.

The beret in blue, red or green was a distinction respectively of the Metropolitan, Colonial and Legion paratrooper units during the Indochina and Algerian wars.

Also the military forces of the countries that have historical, colonial, or cooperative ties with France – such as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sénégal, Togo, Tunisia – or have been trained by the French military wear their beret pulled left.

The Luftwaffe and the Marine issue dark blue berets only to their ground or land combat units (called Luftwaffensicherungstruppe and Marineschutzkräfte) respectively.

The berets of Hungarian forces were made first in "eastern-european style" (like worn by most Warsaw Pact armies), sewn together from 4 pieces.

According to the rules, all military berets are pushed to the right and displays a "Soyombo" symbol in middle of golden oak leaves in the right side.

The following were being worn at the time of the 1989 invasion: Black berets were introduced before World War II for tank and armoured car crews.

During World War II, berets were widely adopted in the Polish Army on the Western Front, armored troops – black, airborne – grey, commando – green.

The dress code of the Polish armed forces states that when not worn on the head or kept in a locker the beret should be placed under the left shoulder loop.

Like most countries formerly associated with the British Empire, Berets were coloured according to unit or service branch, with a distinctive regimental cap badge pinned above the left eye.

In the Soviet Union berets were sewn together from three pieces of material (top, front, and rear) with four air holes, two at each side, worn with the service badge centered between the eyes and draped to the right in most circumstances.

Some of the traditional units wear other headgear - for example, the Cape Town Highlanders Regiment and the band of the South African Military Health Service.

The South African Special Forces Brigade which is a separate entity, not part of the army, also wear the Maroon beret which is traditional for parachute units in the western world.

The colours used are:[54] The beret was used in the now disbanded (2024) Syrian Arab Armed Forces as a standard patrol cap headgear in all branches of the military.

The situation changed radically after the beginning of the hybrid war against Russia starting in 2014, when the society, and in particular the Ukrainian servicemen, fundamentally revised their attitude towards the eastern neighbour and their recent past.

The Chasseurs alpins wore a distinctive large beret and Major-General Sir Hugh Elles, the TC's Colonel, realised this style of headdress would be a practical option for his tank crews, forced to work in a reduced space.

Colonels, brigadiers and generals usually continue to wear the beret of the regiment or corps to which they used to belong with the cap badge distinctive to their rank.

The first were worn during World War II, when a battalion of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment were presented maroon berets by their British counterparts.

In 1975 all female soldiers of the Women's Army Corps were authorized to wear a black beret variant as standard headgear for the service uniform.

In 2001, Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki ordered the black beret worn as standard headgear army-wide, a controversial decision because it was previously reserved for the rangers.

In 2019, the army proposed the creation of a grey beret for USASOC soldiers qualified in Psychological operations, but it did not receive official approval.

[77] In the United States Navy, female officers and sailors were allowed to wear black berets instead of a combination hat or garrison cap while in service uniforms until 2016.

The black berets were phased out in October of that year due to a lack of widespread use and a desire by the U.S. Navy to make its uniforms more unisex in appearance.