What is a cockade? Many people think that this is only a military metal emblem on a military cap, otherwise called a "crab". But it is not so. The word coardes was invented by the French, which means "cock feathers" in translation. Initially, it was an emblem in the form of a bow from ribbons, which were collected in the form of a circle on a headdress. Sometimes the edges of the ribbons hung from the cockade on the hat or an ornament in the form of a feather sticking out of it hung up.
Such an ornament was worn on the headdress in order to show belonging to a certain state, society, party, etc. Later, the cockade clung to the shoulder, lower leg, thigh, chest. A rosette of multi-colored ribbons had either a round or oval shape. In the center of the outlet, a symbol often stamped or simply embroidered. Particular attention was paid to the symbolism of flowers. Often in the cockade you could see the colors of the national flag. What is a cockade, we examined, now let's look into the history, when they appeared and where.
French cockade
In museums in France and in paintings describing historical events, you can see people who have a rosette of three colors on their hats or clothes: red, white and blue. These are the colors of the French flag. Previously, the flag was white, but during the French Revolution, blue and red were added to it in protest.
Previously, people did not know what a cockade was, but the fashion for this accessory appeared in the 18th century in Western Europe. Some historians believe that such emblems were worn by light cavalrymen of Hungary on their hats 100 years earlier than the French. But what is a cockade, they nevertheless learned after the French began to use it. It was the first national emblem worn by both the military and ordinary people, showing their citizenship to France.
American cockades
Such black cockades were worn by soldiers of the American army during the Anglo-American War of 1812-1815. It occurred simultaneously with the Russo-French war with Napoleon.
It is made of silk oak ribbon in the color of the King of Great Britain George. Even when the colonies freed themselves from British oppression, soldiers continued to wear black emblems. But in the early years of the war, George Washington altered it a bit, proposing to use different colors to distinguish officers, captains, and alternions. They began to use respectively red, yellow and green.
Russian cockade
For Russian soldiers, cockades were introduced only in 1700. At first they were white, from 1764 they were replaced with black with orange edges, and then they added a white strip in 1815.
There is another historical version that tells that after 1705 they began to put on a cockade on a winter grenadier fur hat. It was located above the visor and was a metal stamped image of a double-headed eagle.
But there is a third version of the appearance of cockades in the Russian army. Before the coronation of Catherine I, a white bow made of silk ribbons was attached to a headdress of cavalry guards on a golden button. That was in 1724. Later, woolen fabric was already used for low ranks in the army.
Soviet cockades
In the ranks of the Soviet armed forces, cockade insignia was worn only by senior officers of the Red Army since 1940. For lower officers and over-conscripts they were introduced only in 1970. The rest of the commanders and ordinary soldiers wore a red star, which depicted crossed hammer and sickle.
A simple common-arms cockade looked like the inner oval of the one shown in the photograph. And the emblem, surrounded by leaves, was intended for aviation officers and the Airborne Forces of the USSR. Such badges were made mainly of aluminum with the application of an anodized golden layer, but there were also bronze ones. There was no white oval on them, and the star was created from enamel. They called them "Viennese". For field exercises, they changed the cockade to another - khaki.
They put on such emblems on caps, hats of colonels and generals, on berets, panama hats and caps. There was a cockade on a winter hat with earflaps.
Representatives of the armies of all countries wear it on headdresses. By cockades you can distinguish a soldier of the Russian army from military Hungary or Sweden. In each country, it has a special meaning, the study of which historians are engaged. For civilians for ceremonial occasions, cockades are used, made according to the old pattern of ribbons, which are usually painted in the national flags of the country.
In the article we examined in detail what a cockade is, where it appeared for the first time, what it looked like before, and what it has grown into now.