Wearing ex military issue and items

[Jock Scot]

Indeed. My thought is that as a bonnet is not a beret, one should only be considering whether someone might assume they were pretending to belong to a bonnet wearing unit they didn’t belong to (e.g. a red hackle on a navy bonnet).

If someone is offended that one is wearing a somewhat similar hat that happens to be a certain color, I wouldn’t be bothered by it. You can’t please everyone and by simply avoiding berets of a similar color, I think one has done their due diligence. I don’t think it extends to every hat style in existence.

Ummm, we need to be careful here. A bonnet is often used as a general term for a hat in Scotland. So a balmoral, beret and any other type or style of hat can and does get called a bonnet. Just saying.

[FossilHunter]

Ummm, we need to be careful here. A bonnet is often used as a general term for a hat in Scotland. So a balmoral, beret and any other type or style of hat can and does get called a bonnet. Just saying.

You’re right of course. I meant to say balmoral/balmoral bonnet specifically.

[Ninehostages]

&lt;br&gt;<br>
&lt;br&gt;FossilHunter - I was trying to avoid this conversation; but your question is apt.&amp;nbsp; There is no special forces bonnet.&amp;nbsp; Indeed, of you look at the listing carefully it is "special forces green" not a "special forces bonnet".&amp;nbsp; Furthermore, I would suggest that Glengarry Hats is attempting to market to folks in the US who equate special forces with Green Berets.&amp;nbsp; The truth is in Canada, all standard issue army berets are green and everyone gets one.&amp;nbsp; Canadian Special Forces berets are sand. (I hope to photo sticks)<br>https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadi...zvogqbavvrgvzn

The green beret in the American special forces originated during WWII when the re was a combined Canadian/American "special force" known as the "Devil's Brigade". The Americans picked up wearing that piece of Canadian kit back then as a means of distinguishing themselves from the other Rangers in their army.

None of the Highland regiments in Canada are part of the Regular Forces these days. They are all reserve units. To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a Reservist serving in a special forces unit of any kind and therefore the subject of them wearing any headgear other than their berets will never come up.

[plaid preacher]

The green beret in the American special forces originated during WWII when the re was a combined Canadian/American "special force" known as the "Devil's Brigade". The Americans picked up wearing that piece of Canadian kit back then as a means of distinguishing themselves from the other Rangers in their army.

None of the Highland regiments in Canada are part of the Regular Forces these days. They are all reserve units. To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a Reservist serving in a special forces unit of any kind and therefore the subject of them wearing any headgear other than their berets will never come up.

Ninehostages - just because I geek out over stuff like this (instead of working) you started me wondering if reservists can serve in CANSOFCOM - Total Force and all that whooie. Of course, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment has been responsible for the the fourth parachute company in the CF for years; so there is some precedent for reservists in more specialized and forward-facing roles - but SF is a different beast all together, I do realize. So a quick google search pointed me to some open positions for reservists in support roles within CANSOFCOM - so within the larger org, there are reservists. Does this all them - seeing as they are not operators - to wear the sand beret? That I do not know.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. :-D

[TNScotsman]

As usual, this has been a fascinating discussion. I'm not a veteran, but have been a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary in the U.S. for many years. We're a civilian volunteer organization who wear the Coast Guard uniform with different devices and insignia to identify us as different from the active duty and reserve military components of the Coast Guard. From that perspective, I don't see any issue with wearing uniform clothing items, but unit and other insignia are a very different thing.

As an example, I had a trip just before the pandemic where I was attending one event in uniform. To reduce how much stuff I was packing, I took an authorized trench coat with me. I wore it with all my civilian clothing on that trip, the difference being that when I put on the uniform I added the proper rank insignia to the epaulets of the coat. After the uniformed event the rank pins came off the coat, and then it was appropriate for civilian wear again.

One exception I think I would personally make is, as someone commented earlier in the thread, wearing some type of unit insignia that came from a family member. It isn't something I would do personally, but I do respect the connection and respect that may come from wearing the unit insignia of someone close to you.

The tartan issue potentially gets more muddy, particularly for those of us in the U.S. who aren't completely familiar with British units. I do have a Black Watch kilt, which was required for a wedding, but even though it's connected to a regiment it seems to be broadly accepted as a universal tartan. As a Campbell I've also got a familial connection to that particular tartan, so I figure I'm safe either way. Others may disagree, which is part of the value of our forum where we all get to learn from each other.

[Ninehostages]

As usual, this has been a fascinating discussion. I'm not a veteran, but have been a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary in the U.S. for many years. We're a civilian volunteer organization who wear the Coast Guard uniform with different devices and insignia to identify us as different from the active duty and reserve military components of the Coast Guard. From that perspective, I don't see any issue with wearing uniform clothing items, but unit and other insignia are a very different thing.

As an example, I had a trip just before the pandemic where I was attending one event in uniform. To reduce how much stuff I was packing, I took an authorized trench coat with me. I wore it with all my civilian clothing on that trip, the difference being that when I put on the uniform I added the proper rank insignia to the epaulets of the coat. After the uniformed event the rank pins came off the coat, and then it was appropriate for civilian wear again.

One exception I think I would personally make is, as someone commented earlier in the thread, wearing some type of unit insignia that came from a family member. It isn't something I would do personally, but I do respect the connection and respect that may come from wearing the unit insignia of someone close to you.

The tartan issue potentially gets more muddy, particularly for those of us in the U.S. who aren't completely familiar with British units. I do have a Black Watch kilt, which was required for a wedding, but even though it's connected to a regiment it seems to be broadly accepted as a universal tartan. As a Campbell I've also got a familial connection to that particular tartan, so I figure I'm safe either way. Others may disagree, which is part of the value of our forum where we all get to learn from each other.

I'm sure that it's perfectly acceptable for you to wear your Duke of Argyll Black Watch cloth. It is almost as popular as Royal Stewart, out there and as you said, you are a Campbell.

There is a Black Watch of Canada, by the way. They are an army reserve regiment based in Montreal. They were famous in both world wars for their crazy, almost suicidal advances. Theoretically, you're not supposed to wear your service kit after discharge in Canada but we all break the rule from time to time (like, on November 11th). I have never heard of a prohibition on wearing tartans like that aside from proscribed ones like Balmoral. They are a part of a wider culture. The Canadian military is just concerned with "stolen valour" people who buy stuff at surplus stores and pass themselves off as heroes. Tartans would not be an issue., there.

[OC Richard]

There are times when a civilian will appear "in costume" wearing a full military uniform, including badges of rank, and decorations up to and including the Medal Of Honor, and everyone including ex-army and currently serving soldiers take no umbrage.

Just saying that what's acceptable and what's unacceptable can depend on context.

[Ninehostages]

There are times when a civilian will appear "in costume" wearing a full military uniform, including badges of rank, and decorations up to and including the Medal Of Honor, and everyone including ex-army and currently serving soldiers take no umbrage.

Just saying that what's acceptable and what's unacceptable can depend on context.

Nt done in Canada. It's actually against the law to wear your uniform in Canada after you've been discharged. We all wear bits and pieces of it, though and they don't bother us.

[TNScotsman]

Nt done in Canada. It's actually against the law to wear your uniform in Canada after you've been discharged. We all wear bits and pieces of it, though and they don't bother us.

It's interesting to see how the regulations differ from country to country. In the U.S., as I understand it, a member of the military who is retired or was honorably discharged after wartime service retains their right to wear the uniform for appropriate events (military banquets and gatherings, weddings requesting uniforms, etc.). As an American the idea that a retired servicemember is legally banned from wearing their uniform seems unusual, but of course that's because I'm accustomed to the way we do things here.

[kilted redleg]

I think it's important to bear in mind we here in the US had this question on uniforms and medals answered legally in the courts. I think it was in the mid 80's or 90's a veteran group sued an individual who was portraying himself as a vet awarded the CMH [congressional medal of honor] and doing the speaking circuit.
It eventually got into the court system and the courts ruled you wear whatever you want and give yourself whatever medal you want. It's not that we don't take umbridge, we just can't do anything about it. This has led to the phrase "stolen valor" and these people get "outted" all the time.
One of my most favorite things to watch on YouTube are the regimental parades in the UK and Canada. After the regiment marches past comes my brother veterans, dressed smartly, in step and wearing all their military awards they earned. The look on their faces shows why todays warriors are held to such a high standard.