page_title: Peaked cap
section_title: United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Peaked cap / United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Private John Brettle (1918) in his WW1 Royal Warwickshire Regiment Uniform.
context_page_description: The peaked cap, service cap, forage cap, barracks cover or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It derives its name from its short visor, which was historically made of polished leather but increasingly is made of a cheaper synthetic substitute.
  Other principal components are the crown, band and insignia, typically a cap badge and embroidery in proportion to rank. Piping is also often found, typically in contrast to the crown colour, which is usually white for navy, blue for air force and green for army. The band is typically a dark, contrasting colour, often black, but may be patterned or striped.
  In the British Army, each regiment and corps has a different badge. In the United States Armed Forces, the cap device is uniform throughout service branch, though different variants are used by different rank classes.
context_section_description: Royal Navy officers were first issued peaked caps in 1825 as a less formal alternative to the bicorne hat. From 1846, it was worn with a crown on the front, and later (from 1856), gold braid was added to the brim to ensure commissioned officers were instantly recognised by their subordinates. Commanders, captains and commodores had one gold wreath on their peaks, whereas flag officers had two. Before the Second World War, naval officers were required to possess two caps: one with a white cover for summer and one without for winter. However, flag officers often preferred the white-topped cap in order to stand out from their subordinates.
  British army officers wore blue peaked caps as early as the Crimean War to distinguish themselves from enlisted men who wore the pillbox hat. The peaked caps were widely worn on campaign during the First and Second World Wars, until the more practical beret was popularised by generals like Bernard Montgomery. After the war, officers continued to wear khaki caps as part of the Number 2 dress uniform, but by the 1990s these had been phased out in favour of the dark blue and red caps previously worn with the Number 1 dress uniform.
  Peaked caps were first issued to enlisted men in 1908 to replace the Glengarry caps and pillbox hats of the Boer War era. The new caps were made of khaki wool and sometimes had a neck flap to protect against the cold. Nicknamed the "gor blimey", these caps are associated with the First World War 'Tommy Atkins' and continued to be issued to members of the Home Guard and Territorial Army during the Second World War.
caption: First World War–era British soldier wearing khaki forage cap
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