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A soft conical cap with the tip folded forward.
Also known as: Liberty cap, Bonnet rouge, Floppy pointed cap
Sometimes confused with: Pileus
The liberty cap is a soft peaked cap worn folded forward, adopted as a republican emblem in the French and American revolutions. Its origin story is an error: revolutionaries believed it was the Roman freedman's pileus, which was a different cap entirely.
Denotes liberty and republicanism, worn by Marianne in French national imagery and appearing on several Latin American coats of arms.
Contexts: Public information
Was adopted in the eighteenth century in the belief that it was the pileus worn by freed Roman slaves; the two caps are in fact distinct and the identification was a mistake.
The revolutionary adoption rested on a conflation of the Phrygian cap with the Roman pileus. The symbol's meaning is real and current; the historical justification for it was mistaken.
Contexts: Public information
Appears on the arms or flags of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Paraguay, and on the seal of the United States Senate.
Contexts: Public information
A soft brimless cap rising to a point that flops forward over the wearer's forehead, usually drawn in red.