Is the Phrygian Hat Actually the Smurf Hat?
The Phrygian hat is known to be a symbol of liberty. The name comes from the name of a land called Phrygia, situated near Greece. The symbol of the French Revolution, the Marianne, is always pictured as a beautiful woman wearing a Phrygian hat. Briefly it is a tight-fitting cap with a pointed top which angled to the front. The hats were sometimes made of stiffened fabric or leather, which made them sit up on the head like helmets, with the pointed top curving towards the front of the head. Other Phrygian caps were made of soft felt, with the point either flattened onto the crown of the cap, hung to the side, or stood up softly. The history of these special hats goes back to ancient times. In Antiquity, the Phrygian hat gathered two connotations: for the Greeks as showing a distinctive Eastern influence of non-Greek “barbarism” and among the Romans it was a badge of liberty. The cap of freedmen served as a symbol of freedom from tyranny in late Republican Rome. Even some of the soldiers
