Cockade

A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. The word cockade derives from the French cocarde, from Old French coquarde, feminine of coquard (vain, arrogant), from coc (cock), of imitative origin. The earliest documented use was in 1709.^[1][2]

The first cockades were introduced in Europe in the 15th century.^[3][4] The armies of the European states used them to signal the nationality of their soldiers to discern allies from enemies.^[3][4] These first cockades were inspired by the distinctive coloured bands and ribbons that were used in the Late Middle Ages by knights, both in war and in tournaments, which had the same purpose, namely to distinguish the opponent from the fellow soldier.^[5]

The cockade later became a revolutionary symbol par excellence during the insurrectional uprisings of the 18th and 19th centuries. Its main characteristic was that of being able to be clearly visible, thus giving way to unequivocally identify the political ideas of the person who wore it, as well as that of being, in case of need, better hideable than, for example, a flag.^[6]