Why Do the French Wear Berets?
Early Origins The ancient Greeks first used a beret style hat in the 5th century BC, 2500 years ago. The “pilos,” as they called it, was practical and water tight because it lacked any seams.The Romans then adopted the floppy cap from the Greeks and referred to it as a “pilus” but eventually changed the name to “beretino.” The Romans also gave the beret its true shape and decreed that only the aristocracy could wear white beretinos, giving the colored beret its first social symbolism. Introduction to France It was not until 1280 that the first reference to berets appeared in France. A barely discernible stone figure on a Notre Dame church portal near Orthez, France wears what is unmistakably a beret. While the Basques of northern Spain and the Basque-pays region of France are normally credited with the introduction of the beret, this church carving helps confirm that the style did, in fact, begin in the region of Béarn. In fact, berets are also mentioned in a Béarnese text from 1461, a
