The Peaked Cap
A peaked cap, or peaked hat, is a type of headgear worn by the members of various armed forces of many nations, as well as by some uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It has a short visor, or peak, and it may be made of polished leather, cloth, or a cheaper synthetic substitute. A variant called a forage cap is used in military service, and it is also commonly worn by police officers and other uniformed civilians.
The visor is often decorated with a cap band, a band of coloured fabric covering the front of the hat above the peak. The cap band is typically embroidered with the unit's emblem, and it is often a curved rectangle, although other shapes are occasionally used. A coloured cap band may also be worn by female members of the uniformed services, although this is less common.
In the UK, a peaked cap is worn by Royal Marines and Royal Navy personnel, and it is also the standard headgear for many other uniformed services such as police forces and fire departments. The cap is similar to a service hat, which has no crown top and the visor is flat with the sides and back folded upwards, but it does not have the same embroidered cap band as the service hat.
Peaked caps are also worn in other English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. In these countries, it is usually referred to as a "military cap", although some militaries use the term “service cap”. The Australian Army and some regimental sergeants major wear the slouch cap, which has a similar appearance but is more flat. The Canadian military uses the peaked cap, and the cap is sometimes known as a "service hat" or "barracks cover".
Among the British-based uniformed services, the peaked cap is worn by police officers in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Disciplined Services uniform (police, fire, customs/excise and immigration) is heavily influenced by the British colonial services, and all of these services use the same cap, which is black with a coloured cap band.
The peaked cap is also worn by members of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison in military service, and it is a staple of their uniform. The cap is a variant of the Russian kartuz, and it was adopted by the Russian military in 1796. It was replaced by a forage cap for a brief period during the Russian civil war, but it has since returned to its normal usage.
It is also a popular cap for medical researchers investigating vulnerable coronary atherosclerotic plaques, as the shape of the fibrous necrotic core can influence peak stress calculations. In a recent study, the effect of cap thickness on peak von Mises stresses in an atherosclerotic vulnerable coronary plaque model was examined using a computer simulation. This work demonstrated that the peak stresses are strongly influenced by morphological parameters such as necrotic core thickness and intima stiffness.