Uniform beret This article describes the use of the beret as part of the uniform of various organizations . The use of the beret as military headgear is covered in a dedicated article , Military beret . Police and paramilitary organizations . Hong Kong . The navy blue beret is the standard headgear of officers of the Police Tactical Unit of the Hong Kong Police Force . Officers are nicknamed the " Blue Berets " or the " Blue Caps " . These berets are also being worn by the officers of the Emergency Unit and the Airport Security Unit of the Hong Kong Police Force . Iceland . The Police Cadets , Riot unit and the members of the Special Operations Unit of the National Commissioner of Icelandic Police ( " Víkingasveitin " ) wear black berets . High - ranking members of the Reykjavík Air Rescue Unit are entitled to wear red berets after 5 T - 10 army parachutes jumps ( 3 Hollywood jumps and 2 with full gear ) . Italy . Dark blue berets are worn by the Polizia di Stato and blue berets by the Polizia Penitenziaria . Dark blue berets with Black Hackle are worn by all the regular aviations of Royal Malaysian Police including Suksis . For paramilitary organizations consisting of General Operations Forces , the beret worn by the units is dark blue with Khaki Hackle for ceremony , and the paramilitary Senoi Praaq Brigade wear maroon berets also with Khaki Hackle . The dark blue berets with Light Blue Hackle was worn by high school students ' Royal Police Cadet Corps . The anti - riot Federal Reserve Unit s ( FRU ) wearing the red berets with black hackle . The Marine Operations Force ( ) wore the light blue berets . Malaysia . The berets are also worn by Police Counter - Terrorism Forces , such as operators of Pasukan Gerakan Khas , the main anti - terror special forces . Some sub - division units of the PGKs , including the Special Actions Unit ( UTK ) , wear the maroon beret s and VAT 69 Commandos wore tan ( sand ) berets , berets which honored by British 22nd Special Air Service . The newly maritime anti - terror special force , known as UNGERIN and United Nations police branch wear the light blue berets . The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency " ( Coast Guard ) " operators wear black berets . The specialist force team wear the Sky Blue Beret , bestowed by the trainer , Royal Malaysian Air Force PASKAU . Other security organisations like Pertahanan Awam / Civil Defence , their personnel wear the orange beret and RELA personnel wear the yellow beret . In school , uniform body wear berets too : such as Kadet Remaja Sekolah Malaysia ( KRS ) ( a . k . a . School Youth Cadet ) who wear matching dark green berets . Philippines . Black berets for the PNP Special Action Force and PCG Special Operations Group . Poland . The Polish Police Anti - Terrorist Units wear dark blue berets . Dark blue berets are also worn by other Police special units such as pyrotechnics . Polish Border Guards wear light green berets . Portugal . The " Polícia de Segurança Pública " ( PSP ) Intervention Corps wear navy blue berets , the Personal Security Corps ( " Corpo de Segurança Pessoal " ) ( VIP bodyguards ) wear sky blue berets , CIEXSS teams ( explosive disposal ) wear black berets , and the PSP Special Operations Group wear emerald green berets . The " Guarda Prisional " ( Prison Guards ) and the " Proteção Civil " ( Civil Defense ) wear black berets . The members of the paramilitary Rescue Corps of the Portuguese Red Cross wear purple berets . Until their disbandment in 1975 , the Angola and Mozambique paramilitary civil defence volunteers wore black berets . Singapore . Black berets were worn by all members of the Singapore Police Force until 1969 , when the peaked cap was introduced . The beret was , however , retained for specialist forces , such as officers of the Special Operations Command ( SOC ) and the Police Coast Guard , as well as the Gurkha Contingent . A dark blue beret is worn , although the Police Tactical Unit of the SOC switched to red berets in 2005 . The Gurkha Contingent began wearing khaki - coloured berets from 2006 . TransCom ( Public Transport Security Command ) officers wear light grey berets . Members of the Singapore Civil Defence Force attached to a headquarters element , or on overseas missions , also wear black berets . These are adorned with the SCDF crest , and may sport a flash in certain specialist units , such as the Rescue Dog Unit and the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team . Auxiliary police officers of Certis CISCO and Aetos Security Management don dark blue berets when performing escort and other high - risk duties , as do specialist forces of the Singapore Prison Service . In addition , student cadets of uniformed youth organization s such as the National Cadet Corps also wear berets of different colours . National Cadet Corps has three distinct beret colours for each of its services ( Land , Sea and Air ) , these are NCC Green , NCC Blue and blue for each service respectively . National Police Cadet Corps wear their own separate dark blue berets . South Africa . The Special Task Force of the South African Police Service wear camouflage berets . South Korea . Several police SWAT teams belonging to different municipalities wear either maroon or green berets ; Seoul Metropolitan Police SWAT team ( Unit 868 ) wears maroon berets , while Incheon Metropolitan Police SWAT team ( Unit 313 ) wears green berets . Spain . The beret , " txapela " in Basque , where it was especially popular , has been in common usage in Basque Country for centuries . Some believe it was introduced in the sixteenth century from the Low Countries , which at the time shared the same monarchy . The Txapelgorriak ( from Basque " txapel gorri " , " red beret " ) were an Isabelline troop , but later the red beret became a symbol of Carlism . The red beret became a Falange symbol when Carlism was temporarily merged into it after the Spanish Civil War . Today the Basque police force , Ertzaintza , wears red berets , as did their Miquelete forebears Sri Lanka . The Special Task Force of the Sri Lanka Police wear green berets . Sri Lanka Army Commandos wear a maroon beret while special forces wear a black beret . United Kingdom . CO19 , the armed response unit of the London Metropolitan Police , used to wear dark blue berets , and were nicknamed the ' Blue Berets ' . Today , they generally wear helmets or baseball caps . Civilian organizations . Berets are associated with a variety of other organizations :