The Cap of Liberty

The "Cap of Liberty" is seen on the flag of Paraguay (backside), Santa Catarina and several others.

The liberty cap dates back at least to Roman times. A freed slave wore it during the ceremony of his manumission, and on special occasions afterwards. Much later, it came to figure heavily in French Revolutionary iconography. I've seen representations of soldiers in the French revolutionary army wearing liberty caps as part of their uniforms. One of my favorite paintings by the French painter David shows the battle between the Romans and the Sabines, where many on the Roman side are wearing the liberty cap. This is surely no coincidence, since he painted it in 1799.

Such revolutionary symbols carried over into the Latin American revolutions of the 1820s.

If I recall correctly, I think there is a liberty cap on some versions of Haiti's coat-of-arms, for obvious reasons.

It is prominently featured on the flag of the Army of the Andes.
Josh Fruhlinger - 25 October 1996

I believe the French still call it a Scythian cap (see below). It was one of the most notable items of ancient Scythian costume. After the decline of Scythian power, the Athenians used Scythian police. The Romans kept the Scythian police after they conquered Greece, and that is probably how the cap entered European consciousness. How the cap cropped up in 18th century France, I don't know. (But I'm curious.)

Although the cap quickly became a revolutionary symbol in 1789, a few of them survived on flags well into the non-revolutionary Napoleonic era.

The (French) Polish Legion carried a republican banner with its Scythian cap as late as 1810.
T.F. Mills - 1996-10-26

Actually, the Liberty cap as an emblem of liberty was used by the Sons of Liberty as early as 1765. During the American Revolution, particularly in the early years, many of the soldiers who fought for the Patriot cause wore knitted stocking liberty caps of red, sometimes with the motto "Liberty" or "Liberty or Death" knitted into the band. This style of cap was traditional in the North East (having been popular with the French Voyagers) and became immensely popular during the Revolution.

Folks associated with the hobby of "Living History" (like me) often have such liberty caps; I have a good drawing of "Jonathan" (the allegorical figure of colonial New England) holding the 2nd New England Flag and wearing such a liberty cap. The date would probably be about the time of the "Boston Massacre," 1770.

In addition, there are references of the erection of Liberty Poles, topped with such a cap and flying a Liberty Flag prior to the American Revolution. This was a very popular and powerful symbol in those days.
Dave Martucci - 27 October 1996

Scythian or Phrygian? I've heard it called a Phrygian cap before now...

You're right ! In fact, most historians think that this cap has nothing to do either with Phrygians or Scythians, but the name has remained. The 'Phrygian' cap was rather used by the liberated slaves in ancient Rome.

During the French Revolution, the cap was called the 'red cap'. It is still in use as a strong symbol of freedom and republic, and additionally on the logo of the RPR, the neo-Gaullist party of J. Chirac.

The French Republic is usually symbolized by a gorgeous young woman called Marianne (I've not been able to track the origin of that nickname) and wearing the red cap, as depicted in allegoric pictures (La Liberte guidant le Peuple by Delacroix for example).

There is an 'official' Marianne picture, which is used for the most common post stamps (the small red or green ones) and for the marble bust which appears in most town halls. Our best actresses have been used as a model, for instance Brigitte Bardot (long time ago) and Catherine Deneuve (still 'in use').
Ivan Sache - 28 October 1996

...oops, sorry! I had Scythians on the brain. But there is plenty of archaeological evidence that the Scythians wore both helmets and soft caps very similar to the "liberty" design. The Kul Oba royal tomb had some very nice samples.
T.F. Mills - 31 October 1996

The so-called "Phrygian cap" [in French, bonnet phrygien] is also often called red cap [bonnet rouge] or liberty cap [bonnet de la liberte] The use of the liberty cap started in 1789 during th