Red beret

The red beret is a military beret worn by many military police, paramilitary, commando and police forces around the world. The term is also used to refer to the British Parachute Regiment, although members wear the maroon beret.

Carlists

The red beret was worn as a distinguishing device by Carlist soldiers in the First Carlist War and later became an emblem of Carlists in general, often with a yellow pom pom or tassel.

Military Units

The following military units wear red berets:

• The 82nd Airborne Division (United States Army)
• The 173rd Airborne Brigade (United States Army)
• Elements of the The United States Army Special Operations Command
• The Brigada de Fusileros Paracaidistas (Mexican Army)
• The Brazilian Airborne Brigade
• The 4th Parachute Brigade (Argentina)
• The Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation
• The Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
• The Italian Folgore Parachute Brigade
• The French Paratroopers from the 11^e Brigade parachutiste (11th Parachute Brigade) and the Brigade des forces spéciales terre (French Army Special Forces Brigade). Only legionnaires paratroopers of the 2eREP wear green berets.
• 35th Paratroopers Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces
• Kopassus, Indonesian Army special forces
• The Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army.
• Support troops in the German Bundeswehr (light red - called coral red, maroon only for airborne troops)
• The Austrian Army Guard battalion
• The Dutch Army's air maneuver brigade, 11, 12 & 13 Luchtmobiele Brigade
• 71st Airborne Brigade (Greece)
• Turkish Army's special forces
• United States Air Force Combat Control Team
• 42nd Airborne Brigade (42 Brigada de Infantería Paracaidista) of the Venezuelan Army
• Syrian Republican Guard

The following military units formerly wore red berets:

• The 1st and 2nd Canadian Infantry Battalions of the 27th Canadian Infantry Brigade in West Germany
• The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment of Canada,
• The Vietnamese Airborne Division (Mũ Đỏ Nhảy Dù) of the Republic of Vietnam
• The Serbian Special Operations Unit (called "Red Berets", 'Crvene beretke')
• 40. Fallschirmjägerbataillon Willi Sänger of the former German Democratic Republic's Nationale Volksarmee.
• Cold War Era Spetsnaz
• The 4th Guards Brigade (Croatia) (called "The Spiders", 'Pauci' )

Military Police

Red berets are worn by the military police of many NATO and Commonwealth of Nations militaries.

Beret-wearing British military police officer uses field glasses to look across the Berlin Wall from a viewing platform on the western side, 1984.
Photo by George Garrigues

• Royal Military Police - Provost branch of the British Army
• Royal Australian Corps of Military Police
• Corps of Military Police India
• Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police
• Canadian Forces Military Police
• Feldjäger - Military Police of the German Bundeswehr
• Royal Military Police - Malaysian MP
• Póilíní Airm - Irish Defence Forces Military Police (Ireland)
• Danish Military Police
• Military Police - Kuwait Army
• Royal Military Police - Jordan armed force

Paramilitary Forces

• Internal Troops of the Russian MVD
• JSO (Special Operations Unit) of Serbia
• Rhodesian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Intaf) Rhodesian Bush War
• General Service Unit of Kenya
• Ulster Resistance of Northern Ireland

Commando Forces

• Kopassus - Indonesia's Special Commando Force
• 911 Special Forces - The Royal Cambodian Special Commando Force
• Singapore Army Commandos
• Special Brigade - ellite special force of Serbia
• Portuguese Army Commandos- guerrilla and counter-guerrilla special operations force

Police Forces

• Ertzaina-Police force of the Basque Country, Spain
• Policía Foral-Police force of Navarre, Spain
• Federal Reserve Unit - Royal Malaysia Police
• Carabinieri Cacciatori - In English "Hunters", Italian Gendarmerie. Special unit operating in greenwoods
• Special Operations Command - Singapore Police Force
• Dog Unit - Public Security Police, Portugal

Non Military

• Guardian Angels USA
• Boy Scouts of America
• ORB, a group within Doctor Steel's Army of Toy Soldiers fan club
• Soldier of Fortune magazine uses a red beret as their logo.
• The Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African political party, have adopted the red beret as one of their symbols.

In popular culture

Films

• The Red Beret (1953)
• The Devil's Brigade (1968)
• The Red Berets (1968)
• The Wild Geese (1978)
• film (1981) - worn by B Company, Valley Forge Military Academy and College treated as B Company of Bunker Hill Military Academy, led by Tom Cruise as Cadet Captain David Shawn in the film.

Comic books

• Mlle. Marie
• Fightin' 5
• Percy Pinkerton

See also

• Maroon (color)
• Beret
• Black beret
• Green beret
• Maroon beret
• Military beret
• Tan beret