Calotte (Belgium)

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1 The calotte (Belgium)

[edit] The calotte (Belgium)

Calotte at Louvain-la-Neuve

The calotte (plural calottes, French from Provençal calota or Italian callotta), is a skullcap worn by students at catholic universities in Belgium. It originates from the skullcap worn by the Zouave papal regiment around 1860. The calotte is cylindrical, made from velvet and astrakhan (pelt of newborn lamb. The color of the top is bordeau red for the universities of Brussels, Leuven, Louvain-la-Neuve and Namur, white for the university of Ghent and emerald for the university of Liège. In the front of the calotte are stripes representing the Belgium flag (black, yellow and red) and stripes representing the colors of the city or the university where the calotte has been received. At the back of the calotte, the faculty of the student is represented by a color and a symbol, with if needed an additional symbol to determine the speciality. Golden stars around the calotte represent the number of years that the student has studied successfully (if a year has to be retaken, a silver star will represent it). In addition to that, a number of official and personal pins will be added to the calotte, all representing something about its owner examples include:

Official position in a student organisation (above the considered year's star)
Hobbies and occupations (cardplayer, partyer...)
Character (patriot, lazy...)

[edit] History

Several legends explain the appearance of the calotte at the Belgian Catholic universities, but none has been definitely corroborated.

In a first version, it starts after the troops of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy invaded the Papal States in 1870. Hundreds of Belgian students went to Italy to defend the papal sovereignty. Some pretend that Zouave soldiers rejoined the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) and started the tradition of the calotte. In another version, Edmond Carton de Wiart, one of the founder of the General Society for Brussels's Students (français: Société Générale catholique des étudiants bruxellois), law student in the city of Leuven, used this skullcap to go ice skating on the frozen lakes in the winter. A few days later, more students started waring the calotte, until it developed into a sort of new trend. In the XIXth century, the calotte was worn by Catholic students only (called « calottins »), while the penne, another cap with a very long peak, was worn by liberal (i.e. non-Catholic) students (the gueux). Rivalry between the two factions led to numerous aggressions on both sides and still persist to this day, in a more folklorical way though. During the 80', the tradition of the calotte has been revived after the Catholic University of Louvain was split between French speaking and Dutch speaking Universities, the former one moving to a new campus in Louvain-la-Neuve, leading in a resurgence of ancient student traditions, among them the calotte.

The calotte is awarded after a rite of passage called Corona (from Latin crown, for the shape of the assembly) by numerous student unions called "Ordres", "Cercles" and "Régionales" to hundreds of students each year.

Requirements to get the calotte varies, but always include a minimum time spent on the given campus, a knowledge of the calotte, Latin formulaes and student songs.

[edit] Symbolism

The meaning of the calotte has evolved, but whatever the theories may be on its origins, the calotte is mainly a sign that indicates the student's belonging to a group. The student is also able to express his individuality by wearing several insignia on the calotte that will reflect their academic curriculum, their personal interests and even their character.

These insignia are not arbitrary but have a shared meaning that is understood by most students in Belgium.

[edit] The Banane Radieuse : particular case

A student who has lived a minimum number of years in Africa (minimum varies between 1 and 8 years) or was born on this continent, can be delivered a calotte called "Banane Radieuse". This calotte is identical to the traditional calotte, except for the top where astrakhan is replaced by leopard fur.