This article is part of the Hats and Headgear series:

Overview of headgear

Hats; Bonnets; Caps

Hoods; Helmets; Wigs

Masks; Veils; Scarves

Tiaras; Crowns

List of hats and headgear

The Phrygian cap or Liberty cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, worn by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia in antiquity. In vase-paintings and other Greek art, the Phrygian cap serves to identify the Trojan hero Paris as non-Greek; Roman poets habitually use the epithet "Phrygian" to mean Trojan.

The Phrygian cap is worn by the syncretic Hellenistic and roman saviou god Mithras. The same soft cap is seen worn by an attendant in the murals of a late 4th century Thracian tomb at Kazanlak, Bulgaria (illustated).

The Phrygian cap was worn during the Roman Empire by former slaves who had been emancipated by their master and whose descendants were therefore considered citizens of the Empire. This usage is often considered the root of its meaning as a symbol of liberty.

During the 18th century, the red Phrygian cap evolved into a symbol of freedom, held aloft on a Liberty Pole during the American Revolutionary War. It was also adopted during the French Revolution, and to this day the national emblem of France, Marianne, is shown wearing a Phrygian cap.

The cap has appeared on the coat of arms of Argentina and United Central America, and an effigy of "Liberty" was shown holding the Liberty Pole and Phrygian cap on some early U.S. coinage (pictured right). It also appears on the Flag of the State of New York.

The Phrygian cap is now more familiar as the trademark headgear of the Smurfs.