This article describes the use of theberet as part of theuniform of various organizations. The use of the beret as military headgear is covered in a dedicated article,Military beret.

Blue berets are currently in use with theBundespolizei and have differing emblembs indicating their line of service.

During the Cold War, West German police and theBGS were required to wear green beret with the emblem of either their state or the BGS insignia. Today, dark berets are in use withriot police units of state police forces.The successor of the BGS, theBundespolizei reserved green berets for members of its eliteGSG9 while the beret for riot police was ditched in favor of base caps, but many officers wished for berets to be reintroduced. In spring 2020 reintroduction of dark blue berets for these units began.

The navy blue beret is the standard headgear of officers of thePolice Tactical Unit of theHong Kong Police Force. Officers are nicknamed the "Blue Berets" or the "Blue Caps". These berets are also being worn by the officers of theEmergency Unit,Airport Security Unit andCounter Terrorism Response Unit of theHong Kong Police Force.

Hong Kong Correctional Services also adopts berets as one of their main headgears.

Hong Kong Customs and Excuse's Dog and Small Boats units also wear a dark blue beret with embroidery cap badge.

The members of theSpecial Operations Unit of the National Commissioner of Icelandic Police (Víkingasveitin) wear black berets. High-ranking members of the Reykjavík Air Rescue Unit are entitled to wear red berets after 5 T-10 army parachutes jumps (3 Hollywood jumps and 2 with full gear).

TheIndonesian National Police wear and useBerets as their uniform headdress. The berets worn by law enforcement agencies are dragged to the left while in the other hand, the military wear berets dragged to the right. Different beret colours indicates the wearer's unit. Dark blue is worn by members of theMobile Brigade Corps, Dark Brown is worn by members of the public police unit, Light blue is worn by internal affairs officers and members participating inUN operations, and Blue berets are worn bywater police units.

Dark blue berets are worn by thePolizia di Stato and blue berets by thePolizia Penitenziaria.

• Hackle is worn above cap badge during official duty and ceremony parade. All police personnel usually wear dark blue hackle unless stated above. However, for the General Task Police Force and General Operations Force, the hackle's colour differs between Police Contingent and Brigades.

The members of the Police Tactical Intervention Unit of thePublic Security Police Force wear red berets with the force emblem on it as its standard headgear.

ThePakistan Levies wear the black beret as a force wide item.

The following branches of thePanamanian Public Forces wear berets:

• Panamanian National Police - dark blue (cadets)
• National Border Service - Green
• National Aeronaval Service - Green (Infantry Battalion), Tan (Special Forces)
• Institutional Protection Service - Black (duty uniform only)

Black berets are worn by thePhilippine National Police'sSpecial Action Force and the Special Operations Group of thePhilippine Coast Guard, while some otherNon-commissioned PNP officers wear blue berets when in a specific event.

The Polish Police Anti-Terrorist Units wear dark blue berets. Dark blue berets are also worn by other Police special units such as pyrotechnics. Polish Border Guards wear light green berets.

InPortugal, the beret is worn by a number of civil security forces and emergency organizations. The colors worn are:

Black berets were worn by all members of theSingapore Police Force until 1969, when thepeaked cap was introduced. The beret was, however, retained for specialist forces, such as officers of theSpecial Operations Command (SOC) and thePolice Coast Guard, as well as theGurkha Contingent. A dark blue beret is worn, although thePolice Tactical Unit of the SOC switched to red berets in 2005. The Gurkha Contingent began wearing khaki-coloured berets from 2006. TransCom (Public Transport Security Command) officers wear light grey berets.^[1]

Members of theSingapore Civil Defence Force attached to a headquarters element, or on overseas missions, also wear black berets. These are adorned with the SCDF crest, and may sport a flash in certain specialist units, such as the Rescue Dog Unit and the eliteDisaster Assistance and Rescue Team.

Auxiliary police officers ofCertis CISCO andAetos Security Management don dark blue berets when performing escort and other high-risk duties, as do specialist forces of theSingapore Prison Service. In addition, student cadets of uniformedyouth organizations such as theNational Cadet Corps also wear berets of different colours.National Cadet Corps has three distinct beret colours for each of its services (Land, Sea and Air), these are NCC Green, NCC Black and NCC Blue for each service respectively. TheNational Police Cadet Corps wears their own separate dark blue berets, whileNational Civil Defence Cadet Corps wears their separate black beret.

TheSpecial Task Force of the South African Police Service wearcamouflage berets.

Several policeSWAT teams belonging to different municipalities wear either maroon or green berets; Seoul Metropolitan Police SWAT team (Unit 868) wears maroon berets, whileIncheon Metropolitan Police SWAT team (Unit 313) wears green berets.

The beret,txapela inBasque, where it was especially popular, has been in common usage in Basque Country for centuries. Some believe it was introduced in the sixteenth century from theLow Countries, which at the time shared the same monarchy.TheTxapelgorriak (from Basquetxapel gorri, "red beret") were an Isabelline troop, but later the red beret became a symbol ofCarlism.The red beret became aFalange symbol when Carlism was temporarily merged into it after theSpanish Civil War.

Today, red berets are worn on ceremonial occasions by various local and autonomous police forces in Spain, such as the Basque police force,Ertzaintza, in common with older police units such as the formerMiquelete police of Gipuzkoa and "Foral" police of Bizkaia.^[2][3]The historic provincial police forces of Álava (Miñones) and Navarra (Policía Foral/Foruzaingoa) and a few local city police forces, including Bilbao, still wear the traditional red berets, though many police forces now wear a baseball-style cap for duty, retaining the beret for ceremonial duties. Catalonia's policeMossos d'Esquadra have traditionally worn long sloping barretina-style beretsBarretina with red and black checkered bands, though caps are becoming more popular

TheSpecial Task Force of theSri Lanka Police wear green berets.Sri Lanka Army Commandos wear a maroon beret whilespecial forces wear a black beret.

Gendarmerie General Command personnel wearsgreen beret.Police Special Action teams ofGeneral Directorate of Security wears dark green beret whileÇevik Kuvvet personnel wear dark blue.

The maroon beret was used by Berkut officers as their standard headgear.

CO19, the armed response unit of theLondonMetropolitan Police, used to wear dark blue berets, and were nicknamed the 'Blue Berets'. Today, they generally wear helmets or baseball caps.

Navy blue berets are part of the uniform of theNorthern Ireland Security Guard Service.

TheCombined Cadet Force wear berets appropriate to their regimental affiliation (Army Cadet Force) or theRAF beret with theATC cap badge (except for theCCF(RAF) who wear the RAF cap badge).

Berets are associated with a variety of other organizations:

• The official Scouts Canada uniform included a beret between 1968 and 1998 (it was green until 1992, then navy blue). It has made a comeback with the older members inRover Scouts having adopted the red beret as part of their uniform. TheBoy Scouts of America are authorized to wear a red beret, although the BSA itself no longer makes them and very few Scout troops or Scouts wear them. TheGirl Scouts of the USA have worn green berets that often led to members of rival military units reminding theUnited States Army Special Forces of the fact.^{[citation needed]}
• In the United Kingdom, berets are worn by members of theCadet Forces. These are in the appropriate service colour, withACF andCCF Army Section units wearing the beret of the regiment or corps to which they are affiliated. Some cadet units who are affiliated tothe Rifles regiment are permitted to wear the 'Back Badge'. TheSt John Ambulance Cadets of the UK can also wear black berets.
• Berets are worn by theRoyal Canadian Army Cadets. They wear the same color as their affiliated regular force unit, unless there is no affiliated unit, in which case a green beret is worn.^[4]
• In Malaysia, cadets of theKadet Remaja Sekolah Malaysia wear matching dark green berets.
• Navy blue berets have been the standard headdress of theRoyal Canadian Legion as well as other veterans' groups in Canada.^[5] Members of theCanadian Merchant Navy Veterans Association wear a blue beret with a white crown.
• TheGuardian Angels have adopted a red beret as a recognizable item of clothing^[6]
• Some security companies in Hong Kong such asSecuricor wear berets.
• Members of the youth committee of the Mexican Red Cross used to wear a red beret, and black berets were worn by parachutists of the same institution. These were phased out in 2006, when a new uniform was issued.
• Sousaphone players inmarching bands typically wear berets because the regularcombination cap orshako would get in the way of the bell. All members of theOhio State University Marching Band wear scarlet berets with a "Diamond Ohio" flash when not wearing their uniform hat (essentially, whenever they are outdoors and not performing).
• Members of theCivil Air Patrol who attend National Blue Beret (NBB) inOshkosh, Wisconsin during the EAA AirVenture airshow can earn blue berets with the Saint Alban's Cross device, and the title of "Blue Beret."
• Firemen ofHong Kong Fire Services Department used to wear berets for non-emergency operations, but they have switched to baseball caps while ambulancemen are still wearing berets.
• Civil Aid Service andAuxiliary Medical Service also adopt black berets as part of their uniform.
• In Peru, the Music Band of San Ignacio de Recalde School was formed as a percussion band in 1994. Wind instruments were first acquired in 2004. The band wears green berets are part of their uniform.^[7]
• Members of the Assemblies of God boys programRoyal Rangers typically wear a beret as a part of their class A and Class B dress uniforms, with specific color and symbols dependent upon the age group.^[8]
• Pathfinders (Seventh-day Adventist) wear a black beret with the badge in the middle; their leaders also use it, but with a different insignia
• Since August 2017, theKnights of Columbus Fourth Degree members are now wearing black berets as part of their new uniform.^[9]

• List of hat styles

• Berets
• Law enforcement uniforms
• Scouting uniform

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