National Park Service National Park Service Uniforms Badges and Insignia, 1894-1991

The soft, or "English" army officer, cap was authorized in 1928 for rangers assigned to motorcycle duties only, but there was no decoration applied to it until Office Order No. 204, revised, in 1932. This order specified that a "modified form of the National Park Service band" was to be worn with the cap. This consisted of a chin strap, with some of the same elements found on the hat band impressed on it. It also had USNPS tooled on the front center. It was held at the sides by two sterling silver Sequoia cones, like those used on the hatband.

Even though no ornament was specified for the front of the cap, photographs show several rangers sporting what looks like a large eagle on the front of their caps. There had been some discussion concerning this back in the late 1920s, when the cap was initially proposed, but the matter of the ornament had been dropped at that time. There is one photograph of a ranger wearing his ranger badge on the front of his cap.

The 1938 superintendents' conference had recommended an aluminum-colored pith helmet, with a large sterling silver Sequoia cone ornament. But when Office Order No. 350, revised, was issued on April 19, 1939, the color of the helmet was changed to forestry green and there was no mention of an ornament. This was cleared up in a memorandum from Acting Director Demaray on July 27, 1939. "It was found that aluminum colored helmets could not be purchased and no satisfactory sequoia cone has been devised for use on the helmet," he stated. "Consequently the color of the helmet was changed to forestry green and the cone ornament eliminated."

The 1940 uniform regulations changed the color of the helmet again. This time it was to be of a "sand tan color." And apparently, because of availability, the sterling silver Sequoia cone was reinstated, but this time it was to be the same size as those worn on the hatband. On September 18, 1953, the sun helmet was eliminated from the uniform regulations and the Sequoia cone reverted to being used solely on the standard hat and cap.

1930-1981 HAT BAND ORNAMENT 1930-1981 Hat band, sterling 1932-1961 Cap chin strap, sterling 1940-1953 Sun helment, sterling
1981-1984 HAT BAND ORNAMENT Gold plated
1984-present HAT BAND ORNAMENT Solid brass

In 1936 the ski cap was introduced. This was the first of a series of caps bearing an embroidered USNPS. The letters were to be gold, 3/4-inch high. The 1961 regulations specified that women's "airline stewardess" hats were to also have USNPS embroidered on them, but in 1/2-inch gold letters. The letters were to be embroidered either directly on the hat or on a piece of material matching the hat. However, prior to these regulations becoming effective, the color was changed to silver to be consistent with the collar insignia and badge.

1936-1964 MEN'S SKI CAP 3/4-inch letters embroidered in gold thread

The National Park Service History Collection has an example of the USNPS embroidered on a piece of uniform material for the women's hat. But since it is gold instead of silver, it can be assumed to be a sample made prior to the color change. Since most of the photographs from this period are black and white, the color cannot be identified. There is, however, a color photograph from Everglades National Park showing 3 women wearing hats with white USNPS on the front which confirms that white was used in place of gold. The embroidered USNPS on the women's hat was replaced in 1962 by the "reduced" size (2-1/2-inch) arrowhead patch.

1960-1964 WOMEN'S HAT "Airline stewardess," Style 1 1/2-inch letters embroidered on hat in gold thread

The 1940 regulations also introduced a new cap for those rangers, or boatmen, that worked on the various boats throughout the National Park System. This cap was to have a distinctive ornament on the front. It consisted of an 1-1/2" circle with crossed anchors in the center. While not specified, this ornament was apparently embroidered, gold thread on navy-blue cloth, since it was to be sewn on the cap. Some (officers) may have been bullion, like the Navy. No known examples of this emblem exist.

As in the case of the women's hat, when the new style ski cap, now called a service cap, was adopted in 1960, it was specified to have USNPS embroidered on the front, like the previous cap, but this was also changed to silver in 1960. Now, though, the USNPS was embroidered on a piece of the cap material, all on one line, and sewn to the front of the cap. Sometime prior to 1969, at which time it was eliminated in favor of the arrowhead, the USNPS began to be embroidered on a two inch square forestry green patch with a border and sewn to the cap. Photographs show this patch being worn with gold letters and border. There is also an example in the History Collection that is silver (white). No evidence has been uncovered as to when these patches were authorized or why the different colors.

1964-1969 MEN'S CAP PATCH 5/8-inch letters embroidered in white thread applied to front of cap

Prior to the adoption of the "stewardess" hat, uniformed women employees had been wearing a "overseas" cap styled after those worn by the U.S. Army. Although not covered in the regulations, a USNPS collar ornament was usually attached to the front of this cap. There is photographic evidence that this hat began to be worn during World War II.

1960-1964 WOMEN'S HAT "Airline stewardess," Style 2 1/2-inch letters embroidered in gold thread on piece of material applied to hat

The arrowhead was officially removed from the women's hat in 1969 but was still worn until the uniform change of 1970. The small arrowhead patch replaced the USNPS patch on the men's service caps at that time. Since 1974, the arrowhead has seen service on many different types of hats, either as a patch or a decal. It was used on baseball caps, "Black Watch style" (ski) caps, and mouton-trimmed caps, to name a few. The soft cap worn by the motorcycle patrol rangers gave way to the safer hard helmets with the arrowhead decal on them.

1964-present ARROWHEAD CAP PATCH 1964-1969 Women's hats 1969-present Men's standard cap Sewn on front of hats and caps