The Bigeard cap (French: casquette Bigeard) is a field cap worn by the French Army and several others. It was allegedly invented by French General Marcel Bigeard[1][2] to replace the colorful and less practical colored headgear worn by the French Army in First Indochina War.

French Commandos de Chasse wearing Bigeard caps.

Overview

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The Bigeard is a cloth field cap with a short cloth peak. Originally produced in lizard, it was later produced in olive green and various camouflage patterns to include, forest, and desert. The cap is more of a peaked sidecap and is available with or without neck flaps for sun protection.

Users

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Several armies have copied the design, Rhodesian army as the "swallowtail cap" [3] in English or "Quico" (pronounced kiko) in Portuguese vertical lizard[4]

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See also

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  • Patrol cap
  • Sen bou The former Imperial Japanese Army's field cap with which the Bigeard is similar too in form and function.

References

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  1. ^ "LA CASQUETTE BIGEARD" (PDF). www.fondation-general-bigeard.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  2. ^ DENYS, Hubert. "04- L'origine de la casquette BIGEARD". episodes-histoire. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  3. ^ Modern African Wars (1) 1965-80 : Rhodesia, Men at Arms Series 183, Copyright June 15, 1986, by Peter Abbott and Philip Botham (Author), ISBN 978-0850457285
  4. ^ Modern African Wars (2) Angola and Moazambique 1961 - 74, Peter Abbot & Manuel Rodriques Osprey Men-at-Arms 202, 1988Copywrite, ISBN 978-0850458435