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The world famous Australian
Slouch Hat or
Digger Hat |
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(Repro) Australian
Commonwealth Horse slouch hat circa 1902 |
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(Repro) Queensland Mounted Infantry
slouch hat. Note the red (scarlet) backing for the Unit badge. |
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recent model slouch hat & Emu plumes with the current 2 badge
policy. The Australian Army General Service (Rising Sun) badge is
worn on the turned up leaf and the Corps or Regiment badge is worn on
the front of the 7 fold light khaki puggaree. In this case it is the
badge of 3rd Cavalry Regiment Royal Australian Armoured Corps (3CAV). |
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When
the slouch hat is worn at Royal Military College Australia, it has
become traditional that the
chinstrap buckle is on the right side of the face and the brim is down.
General Bridges was wearing his slouch hat this way when he was fatally
wounded at Gallipoli. (Bridges was actually
wearing his hat back to front. Webmaster)
The
tradition was commenced at RMC in 1932. When the slouch hat is worn
ceremonially, (e.g. on ANZAC Days) it is worn in accordance with the
wider Army custom, i.e. brim up and chin strap on the left hand side.
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The Army refers to the slouch hat by it's
official designation; Hat khaki
fur felt and in typical Army
fashion that gets shortened to 'HAT
KFF'
The khaki hat, first
adopted into Australian military service in 1885 when it was
chosen for the newly-formed Victorian Mounted Rifles, featured a
high-domed crown and a narrow brim.
The brim was turned up on the
right side. |
| The colony of New South Wales adopted a felt hat for
its mounted troops. In 1890, local military commandants agreed
that all their forces, except the artillery (who wore helmets),
should adopt a felt hat. This hat was worn with an indented crown,
looped up on the left side and decorated with plumage. The hat was
first worn overseas in the South African War. (from
the AWM site) |
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When
it was first introduced it was worn with the turn up (leaf) on the RIGHT HAND
SIDE see photo of Colonel Tom Price, right,
who is credited with introducing the slouch hat to Australia.
John Victor
O'Farrell of the Victorian Mounted Rifles in South Africa >>
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White metal helmet
rose in the form of a Tudor rose. The rose is backed by a brass
screw and fastener. A small hook protrudes from the top of the
rose for attachment of a helmet chin chain.
Worn by 2829 Sergeant James John
Heath who served in the 55th Regiment of Foot during the Crimean
war. Heath was born in Staffordshire in 1819 and worked as a
labourer until his enlistment in the British Army on 22 April
1837. |
| He
participated in the Battle of Inkermann and the siege of
Sevastopol during his service in the Crimean War of 1854-1856. He
was promoted to the rank of Sergeant during this time for good
conduct and affection for duty. He was discharged from full time
service after the war and was employed in the service of the
Victoria London Docks Company for nearly three years, during which
time he acted as a Drill Sergeant in 2 Battalion of 5th Essex
Rifle Volunteers. He subsequently emigrated to Australia and
became Sergeant Major of the Ballarat Volunteer Regiment, a
position he had held for over twenty years at the time of his
death in 1885. The helmet rose was part of the headdress worn by
Heath during his service with the Ballarat Volunteers. |
image from Grants
Militaria
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In
some units in the Boer
War the hat's brim was held up on the left by a brooch. A small
lions head (see photo
>>) is attached to the
upper left crown of the hat and a loop of khaki cord, which is
attached to the left chin strap fixture, inside the hat, holds up
the side of the hat by being held in position by the lion brooch.
There are also examples known of a small
kangaroo brooch used for the
same function. see below
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The
Lions Head was used in Victoria and Tasmania. South Australia
favoured the Kangaroo Head. In NSW General Order 88, 7 May
1890, it was ordered that the loop be held by, in the case of
| General &
Permanent Staff |
The badge of
the Colony |
| Cavalry |
The Crest of
His Excellency Lord Carrington |
| Engineers
& Field Artillery |
A Grenade
badge (see below) |
| Mounted
Infantry |
The badge of
the Colony |
| Infantry and
others including Medical |
A general
service button OR Regimental badge |
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Badge of the
Colony style large size coat button as used in NSW as a
hat badge and as a badge to hold the loop for the turn up
of the slouch hat. |
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another variation below
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Kangaroo head |
Lion's head |
Flaming Grenade
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NZ Silver Fern
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In New Zealand they used the same Lion's Head or a fern leaf badge
to hold the loops of their slouch hats. |
- This hat, worn in 1913 by
Colonel Kenneth Mackay who had formed the 1st Australian Horse
and served in South Africa appears to bear the Regiment badge of that
Unit. It is also possibly the badge of the 3rd Australian
Light Horse Regiment which used the same badges with the
numeral "1" on it.
- Note the 7 fold puggaree of
(dark) khaki with a single white stripe and the absence of any
plumes.
- Photo
AWM REL 25972
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Kenneth Mackay was Lieutenant
Colonel in command of the NSW Imperial Bushmen's Contingent to the
Boer War, and later became chief staff officer for the Australian
contingents at the British Army Headquarters in South Africa. He
wore this slouch hat when commanding the
parade at the naming of Canberra in 1913.
This style of hat became a national symbol during the First World
War: They were made from an abundant local product - rabbit fur. From
the AWM site |
| In WW1
the slouch hat had the Rising
Sun badge (RSB) on the left except of course for the 3rd Division who
originally wore it
brim down, badge to front.
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The band is called a
puggaree and is folded to have up to seven folds. The puggaree is
traditionally khaki (except for 1RAR who wear a green
puggaree).
However
in the past puggarees and hat bands have been made from many different materials and
in many different styles and with differing numbers of folds. Details
at Puggaree
<<< General
Harry Chauvel, Desert Mounted Corps, wearing his slouch hat with
the old style Militia Light Horse puggaree which was khaki with a white
stripe. |
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NSW
Regiment slouch hat (reproduction) with Black Cocks feathers
plume, period badge and puggaree. |
| One Tasmanian Light Horse unit wore wallaby
fur hat bands. >>>
Donor: Peter Roberts
Others were coloured or coloured with a white stripe.
See Puggaree
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Emu
plumes on the Slouch Hat.
(Kangaroo Feathers)
In
the late 1800s Light Horse units took to wearing feathers behind
the badge on the turn up of their slouch hats. Some used black
cock's feathers, eagle feathers, ostrich feathers or swan
feathers. Queensland units used emu feathers which later
became the standard.
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WW1 Light Horse |
Current Light Horse |
The 1906 'Orders for Dress and Clothing' of the Military Forces of the Commonwealth contained 985 dress regulations, and 13 appendices.
The full dress headgear of the officers of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment (Australian Horse) required three paragraphs, as follows:
135. Hat. - Myrtle green soft felt, height of crown when folded in centre. 6
inches; width of brim, 3˝ inches; socket for plume, and fastened with special hook
and eye, regimental badge in gilt metal to show on left side of
leaf of hat when turned up, black patent leather chin strap three
eighths of an inch wide, with adjusting gilt buckle.
136. Plume. - (New South Wales) Black cock's
feathers, drooping, on left side of hat, measuring when out of socket, from base
of feather to point 14 inches across widest part, and regimental badge.
137. Puggaree. - Black silk, fast, made on canvas band, with 3 folds
2˝ inches at side, 1˝ inches in front.
25487 Driver Vincent G. Flanagan MM, 1st Australian Light Rail Operating Company
>>>
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To prove their
horsemanship the QMI Light Horseman were required to ‘pluck’ the
darker and smaller chest feathers of the emu while riding
alongside it in full flight. Taking feathers from a dead bird
was not acceptable. It was a matter of honour to get them from a
running bird. |
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This is
a small part of an oil on timber painting from 1905. The subjects
are men of the NSW Mounted Rifles.
Artist; Percy Spence.
Note the plume. - (New South Wales) Black cock's
feathers, drooping, on left side of hat, measuring when out of socket, from base
of feather to point 14 inches across widest part, and regimental badge.
Puggaree. - Black silk, fast, made on canvas band, with 3 folds
2˝ inches at side, 1˝ inches in front. |
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What is a
"plume" and why wear one? What are "tufts" |
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- The Oxford English Dictionary
suggests that a plume is a large or conspicuous feather used for
personal adornment.
- A single feather is a plume. Many feathers
together are plumes, and this is the way the Light Horse wear
the emu feathers and feathers of other birds.
- Emu plumes
are 20 centimeters long
- Emu tufts
are emu feathers 6 centimeters long
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A set of emu
plumes prepared for wear. They are all affixed to a cloth
base. |
<<<
A Sergeant in the 11th Australian Light horse Regiment (1908)
wearing a single eagle's feather as a plume.
Image from Rick Grebert's book "The
Australian Army Slouch Hat and Rising Sun Badge. |
| Date |
Unit/s |
Type
of plume |
| 1860 |
Ballarat Rifle
Regiment Victoria |
6in black goat's hair bristles
with red feathers |
| 1890 |
NSW Cavalry
& Mounted Infantry |
Black rooster feathers (Black
cock's feathers) |
| 1891 |
Queensland
Mounted Infantry |
Emu plumes |
| 1896 |
6th Infantry Bn Australian Rifles |
Emu plumes |
| 1897 |
1st Australian
Horse |
Black cock's feathers |
| 1903 |
Staff of the
permanent army |
Red & white cock's plumes |
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NSW Light Horse |
Black cock's plumes |
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Victorian Light
Horse |
A single eagle's feather |
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Qld, Tasmanian
& S/Aust L/Horse |
Emu plumes |
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Western
Australia Light Horse |
A black swan feather (ostrich in Sth Africa) |
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Army Medical
Corps (Officers only) |
Chocolate ostrich & vulture
feathers |
| 1915 |
AIF light Horse
units |
Emu plumes (some
Units chose not to wear any) |
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Currently
the only authorised plumes are emu and the following units
are entitled to wear plumes on their Hats khaki fur felt and
tufts (small feathers) on their beret |
| 2002 |
- 1/15 Royal NSW Lancers
- 2 Cavalry Regiment
(Recon)
- 2/14 Light Horse QMI
- B Sqn 3/4 Cavalry
regiment
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- 3/9 Light Horse Sth
Aust Mounted Rifles
- 4/19 Prince of Wales
Light Horse
- A Sqn 10th Light Horse
(WA) (see below)
- 12/16 Hunter River
Lancers
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Two different
versions of the way the slouch hat was worn in WW1. |
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- A slouch hat as worn by the
soldiers of 10th Light Horse, 2002. (The tufts should be worn
on the beret and the full plumes on the hat).
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- The badge of 10th Light Horse
from Western Australia with a backing of emu tufts as worn by
that Unit in 2002.
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| A
Mr. Robert Thomas BA, who has done some in depth research in
Queensland disagrees with much of what is above.
To read his
version of events
to
go to Emu Plumes |
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