What kind of hat is this?

[Edmondo]

What kind of hat is this?

[misbris]

The crown on top leads me to believe the RI stands for Royal Infantry.

I found a few images that are close from England, Australia and Canada. What do you think?

http://www.lightinfantry.org.uk/images/ ... ge1905.jpg


http://www.defence.gov.au/army/rainf/

[Edmondo]

I believe that it is an army hat and RI stands for Republica Italiana but I am not sure.

My father told me it is the hat of my grandfather. It is old but I don't know how old.

[carolinechurch]

Is there a makers label inside?

[Tessa78]

It reminds me of the hat of my grandfather's brother who played in the comune's band in 1921.

http://www.strongoli.org/scheda.asp?id=221

T.

[Squigy]

I believe that it is an army hat and RI stands for Republica Italiana but I am not sure.

My father told me it is the hat of my grandfather. It is old but I don't know how old.

When was your grandfather born? That way you can judge when he would have been in the military, and whether it would be a hat for the republic or the kingdom of Italy.

[Edmondo]

Thank you Tessa.
I think you are right, I know my grandfather played in the comune's band and the hats indeed look the same.

@carolinechurch, I will check next time if there is a makers label inside.

It reminds me of the hat of my grandfather's brother who played in the comune's band in 1921.

http://www.strongoli.org/scheda.asp?id=221

T.

[Edmondo]

He was born in 1916 and I know he was a military in WW2, that is why I thougt it is a military hat.

I believe that it is an army hat and RI stands for Republica Italiana but I am not sure.

My father told me it is the hat of my grandfather. It is old but I don't know how old.

When was your grandfather born? That way you can judge when he would have been in the military, and whether it would be a hat for the republic or the kingdom of Italy.

[johnnyonthespot]

I am not certain as to how complete it is (not being able to easily read Italian makes it difficult for me to tell..) but Italy's Ministry of Defense website has a page titled "Uniformi e Tradizioni" here: http://www.difesa.it/Uniformi+e+Tradizioni/

Click around through it and you can see many images of uniforms through the years.

[johnnyonthespot]

I have to say, the cap's style appears to be too "old" for the WWII period based on the images here: http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/italy2.htm

[johnnyonthespot]

Not certain if this is his most current website/contact details ( http://rudydangelo.tripod.com/about.htm ), but Rudy D'Angelo of Farmington, Connecticut is a buyer/seller/collector of Italian militaria.

Perhaps he might be able to identify the cap?

[Julo]

RI stands for Repubblica Italiana but I could not tell you the military branch of that hat.

[Edmondo]

Is there a makers label inside?

I checked and there is no label. Also I am sure now it was my grandfathers hat he used when he played in the comune's band of Valle dell'Angelo (SA). He played the flicorno (saxhorn)

Thank you all for your help!