Šajkača The Šajkača ( Serbian Cyrillic : шајкача , ) is the Serbian national hat or cap . Traditionally worn by men in the Serbian countryside , the hat is named after Serb river troops known as Šajkaši , who protected the Austrian Empire against the Ottoman Turks in the 18th century . A popular nationalist symbol in Serbia since the beginning of the early 20th century , it is typically black or grey in colour and is usually made of soft , homemade cloth . It became widely worn by Serb men during the First Serbian Uprising and was a key component in the uniform in the Serbian military from the beginning of the 19th century until the end of the 20th century . Today , it is mostly worn by old men in the Serbian countryside . History . Origin . The Šajkača is a traditional hat worn by men in the Serbian countryside . It is the national hat of Serbia and is believed to have originated in the Serbian region of Banat during the 18th century , when Šajkaši ( Serb river troops in the service of the Austrian Empire ) guarded the Danube and Sava rivers against the Ottoman Turks and wore caps in the shape of an overturned Chaika ( ) boat . The cap became widely worn amongst Serbs at the time of the First Serbian Uprising , when the men of Serbian revolutionary Karađorđe Petrović began discarding their Turkish fezzes in favour of the Šajkača . Military hat . The typical cap of peasants from the Šumadija region of Serbia , the Šajkača eventually acquired a dual purpose : during times of peace it was worn in the countryside , and in wartime it became part of the standard Serbian military uniform . During World War I , the cap was regularly worn by the soldiers of the Kingdom of Serbia . Serbia was eventually overrun by a combined Austro - Hungarian , German and Bulgarian invasion in 1915 , and in 1916 the wearing of the Šajkača , alongside other Serbian folk attire , was outlawed by Bulgarian authorities in the wake of the Bulgarian occupation of southern Serbia . After the war , the wearing of the hat in Bosnia was made obligatory in place of the Turkish fez . During World War II , the Šajkača was the standard hat worn by Serbian Chetnik irregulars in the Axis - occupied Kingdom of Yugoslavia . After the war , it was replaced by the Titovka cap in the armed forces of Communist Yugoslavia . During the breakup of Yugoslavia , the Šajkača was worn by Bosnian Serb reservists and paramilitaries in the Bosnian War of the 1990s , and was later adopted by Bosnian Serb forces to be the official headgear of the Army of Republika Srpska ( VRS ) . Following the 1991 Battle of Vukovar , fought during the Croatian War of Independence , Croatian Serb authorities erected gravestones to the Serb soldiers who were killed fighting for the city . These were originally topped with sculptural evocations of the Šajkača cap . After Vukovar ' s reintegration into Croatia the gravestones were repeatedly vandalized , leading the Serb community in the town to replace them with more neutral gravestones without any overt military connotations . The 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia saw McDonald ' s chains in Serbia promote their products by distributing posters and lapels which depicted the Šajkača standing atop the golden arches of the McDonald ' s logo in an attempt to bolster Serbian national pride . Modern use . The Šajkača has been a popular nationalist symbol in Serbia since the beginning of the early 20th century . Whereas modern - day Serbian youth wear traditional costumes only for folklore concerts , some elderly Serbs still dress traditionally and wear the hat . Today , the Šajkača is commonly worn by elderly men in the Serbian countryside . Design . Designed with a V - shaped top in the form of an overturned Chaika , the Šajkača is narrow and typically black or grey in colour . It is usually made of soft , homemade cloth and is worn without any symbols during peacetime . During times of war , cockade s featuring the Serbian double - headed eagle and the motto Only Unity Saves the Serbs are often seen on the cap . The Šajkača worn by Serbian soldiers during World War I had a non - reflecting peak and was topped with a royal monogram .