Bicorne
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Image:Napoleon-nappy-crying-for-a-new-toy-1803-caricature.jpg
The Bicorne is an archaic form of hat, or headgear, associated with the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Much worn by European and American military and naval officers, it is most readily associated with Napoléon Bonaparte. In practice most generals and staff officers of the Napoleonic period worn bicornes and it survived as a widely worn full dress headdress until at least 1914.
Evolved from the tricorne, the black-coloured bicorne originally had a rather broad brim, with the front and the rear halves turned up and pinned together, forming a semi-circular fan shape; there was usually a cockade in the national colours at the front. Later, the hat became more triangular in shape, its two ends became more pointed, and it was worn with the cockade at the right side. This kind of bicorne eventually became known in the English language as the cocked hat, although to this day it is still known in the French language as the bicorne.
Some forms of bicorne were designed to be folded flat, so that they could be conveniently tucked under the arm when not being worn. A bicorne of this style is also known as a chapeau-bras or chapeau-de-bras.
The bicorn was widely worn until World War I as part of the full dress of officers of most of the world's navies. It survived to a more limited extent between the wars for wear by senior naval officers but has now almost disappeared in this context.
[edit] Current usages
The Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom wears a tricorne hat, but the other Lords Commissioners wear bicorne hats.
Members of the Académie française wear the habit vert (green habit) at the Académie's ceremonies. The habit includes a black jacket and a cocked hat (officially called a bicorne), each embroidered in green.
Students at the Ecole Polytechnique wear a cocked hat (again officially called a bicorne) as part of their Grand Uniforme (GU). Female students used to wear a tricorne hat but now also wear a bicorne.
The uniform of the horsemen of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna includes a bicorne.
Diplomatic uniforms worn on such occasions as the presentation of credentials by ambassadors often included bicornes worn with feathers and gold or silver braiding. Until World War II such uniforms were worn by even junior embassy staff but now survive only for ambassadors in a few long established diplomatic services such as those of Britain, France and Spain.
At the annual Trooping of the Colour in London, British generals taking part in the ceremony wear the scarlet and blue full dress of their rank, which includes a bicorne. Certain officers of the Brigade of Guards who hold administrative positions such as that of quartermaster wear bicornes (described as cocked hats) in full dress instead of the usual bearskin.
