For a hat, the beret is pretty powerful.The silhouette of the beret we know of today — a disk of wool that snuggly hugs the wearer's head — has been around for thousands of years. According to ...

For young activists in Africa, the red beret is de rigueur. Julius Malema, a South African firebrand, says the hat is “a revolutionary symbol of defiance and resistance”.

The beret now seems to be the most popular military hat worldwide. Fancy military hats are still around, particularly in the United Kingdom, but they’re limited to parades and other noncombat ...

Needless to say, the beret has been around for a while, and has been linked with a plethora of different types of peoples, countries and identities. It's a hat with a powerful, unlikely history.