Pith helmet of Harry S. Truman

The Pith Helmet (also known as Sun helmet, Topee, or Topi) is a lightweight helmet made of cork or "pith", with a cloth cover, designed to shade the wearer's head from the sun. It was formerly much worn by Westerners in the tropics; today it is most frequently used in Vietnam.

History

Crude forms of pith helmets had been in existence since the mid-nineteenth century, but it was around 1870 that the pith helmet became popular with military personnel in Europe's tropical colonies: the Franco-Prussian War popularized the German pickelhaube, and that had much influence on the definitive design of the pith helmet. It was made of pith of course, with small peaks at the front and back; it was covered by white cloth, and had small holes for ventilation. It had a metal insignia at the front, and may be decorated with a brass spike or ball-shaped top. The chin strap could be in leather or brass chain, depending on occasions. The pith helmet soon became synonymous with the British Empire and its "Soldiers of the Queen". However, the pith helmet was used by all European colonial powers, and for some time even by the United States.

During the Boer War, British troops dyed their pith helmets with tea for camouflage. Soon khaki-coloured pith helmets became standard issues as well. Pith helmets were worn operationally by European military personnel until the end of World War II.

Such was the popularity of the pith helmet that it became a common civilian headgear for Westerners in the tropics from the end of the 19th Century. The civilian pith helmet was typically less decorative and more practical, not as tall as the military counterpart, and with a wide brim all round. It was worn by men and women, old and young, both in formal and casual occasions, until the Second World War.

After the war, the Viet Minh of Vietnam copied the pith helmet from the former French colonizer, and adopted it as its own. Today it is still widely worn by both civilians and the military in Vietnam: it is similar to the pre-WWII civilian type, but covered in jungle green cloth, sometimes with a metal insignia at the front.

Outside Vietnam the pith helmet is now worn mainly by the British and Thai military on ceremonial occasions.