Slouch hat
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A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt hat with a chinstrap most commonly worn as part of a military uniform. It is a survivor of the felt hats worn by eighteenth century armies. In the United States the hat is also know as a Kossuth hat. The distinctive Australian slouch hat has one side of the brim turned up or pinned to the side of the hat in order to allow a rifle to be slung over the shoulder. This style of hat did not originate in Australia, being introduced there by British officers or former British officers around 1885 and was sometimes described as a 'Tyrolean' import. But as other armies rejected the once-popular headwear (as the British army did in 1905) it has become associated with the Australian military. From World War I it was manufactured in Australia by the Akubra company for the army. This slouch hat is still worn by the Australian military today.
The slouch hat is also associated with the Gurkha regiments of the British Army and Indian Army (formerly the British Indian Army) and is still worn by the Gurkhas; the hat is no longer worn on active service. The 2nd Gurkha Rifles became the first Gurkha regiment to adopt the slouch hat when they were issued with the Australian variant in 1901. The Gurkha hat is created by fusing two hats into one to make the hat more rigid and is worn at an angle, tilted to the right.
The Chindits and other units of the British Fourteenth Army, who fought against the Japanese in the Far East during World War II, also became associated with the slouch hat (also known as the bush hat in the British Army). The slouch hat was also used by colonial units of the British Empire, including the Royal West African Frontier Force.
A Unit Colour Patch is also worn by members of the Australian Army on their Slouch Hat to indicate which unit they are from.
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[edit] Slouch Hat In Australia
Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel regard the slouch hat as a parade item of dress, and although army standing orders for dress allow it to be worn in the field, most soldiers do not, as it is almost a disgrace to allow it to get unnecessarily dirty. The Australian slouch hat (also know as a Hat KFF, or Hat Khaki Fur Felt) is worn with a seven band puggaree, with seven bands, representing the 6 states and territories of Australia. For the Army, the hat includes the soldiers' Unit Colour Patch, Corp or Regiment Hat badge and the General Service Badge (The Rising Sun) this is on both the Grade 1 and Grade 2 Slouch Hats. When using the Grade 1 Slouch Hat (Brim Up) when the Rising Sun Badge can be seen which on the right side, this is worn when on ceremonial parades eg ANZAC day. But when the soldier's dress of the day is either DPCU's or Polus, then they wear the hat with the brim flat (Grade 2). The Slouch Hat worn by the Army is one of the ADF's trademarks, but it is not theirs alone; the Royal Australian Air Force, also wears the HFFK with a dark blue or "Air Force Blue" Puggaree with the Rank status badge, this is worn as a Non Ceremonial head dress for the RAAF, and the Royal Australian Navy is known to wear the hat when wearing Cams and other uniforms, and has the same features as the RAAF's HFFK. The RAAF & RAN do not have unit colour patches, nor do they include the Service badge on their hat and don’t wear it brim up.
The First Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) for their slouch hats wear a jungle green coloured puggaree with no colour patch, this dates back to traditions when serving in Malaya. Prior to the RAAF varying some of its Service Dress Uniform the RAAF also used to wear a Blue Slouch hat, with a black or blue puggaree and the Khaki for the HFFK puggaree had a blue band (http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/slouch_hat2.htm)
[edit] Trivia
Jack Kerouac wrote a poem called "I Had a Slouch Hat Too One Time."
