Tricorne - Modern Usage and Legacy

Modern Usage and Legacy

Tricornes survive today as part of the traditional dress of the Chelsea Pensioners (UK) and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps of the United States Army., and the distinctive hat of the Guardia Civil (Spain), called a tricornio in Spanish, originates from the tricorne. A black feathered tricorne is worn by the Lord Mayor of the City of London for all ceremonials and is in evidence at the annual Lord Mayor's Show in November, when the newly elected Lord Mayor enthusiastically waves it at the crowds. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Chamberlain and the Speaker of the House of Commons are also traditionally entitled to wear or carry it when wearing state robes with full bottomed wigs at state occasions (and, in theory, the Lord Speaker is also entitled to do so as well).

In the United States, the tricorne is associated with the American Revolution and American Patriots of that era, especially Minutemen (militia members of the American Colonies). Participants in reenactment events often don tricornes, and they also can be seen in sports culture as worn by fans of teams with Revolutionary names, such as the New England Patriots (an American football team), the New England Revolution (a Major League Soccer team), the United States men's national soccer team, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the George Washington University. Voters associating themselves with the Tea Party movement use the tricorne as an icon to associate themselves with the patriots of the American Revolution, and their distaste for big government and taxation.

In France, synagogue officiants (usually not rabbis), wear the tricorne on formal occasions. In the French navy and air force, tricorn are still worn by women as a piece of uniform.

The tricorne is a key feature in the University of Minho's academic dress, in Portugal. Its origins are as far as 18th century, as being the academic dress of Colégio de Estudos Superiores de S. Paulo, as depicted by tile panels in the Archbishop's Palace of Braga (now Rectorate of the University of Minho). Designated by "Tricórnio" (Portuguese for "tricorne"), this academic dress was redesigned and officially set 1989.

A popular children's song, described in Primo Levi's If This Is A Man, goes, ‘My hat it has three corners, three corners has my hat; and had it not three corners, it would not be my hat.’ The song is usually sung several times in a row, each time omitting a specific word and replacing it with a gesture representing it (for instance, pointing at one’s elbow whenever the word ‘corners’ is sung) and mouthing the omitted word.