Around 1800 the British Navy's traditional tricorn (three cornered hat) for officers was replaced by the bicorn (two cornered hat). Matthew Flinders’ sister-in-law, Isabella Tyler, recalled seeing him just before the HMS Investigator set out from Portsmouth in July 1801 'in his handsome uniform, his cocked hat put slightly over one eye - his sword by his side - did he not look handsome?'
The bicorn was worn widely as part of the full dress of officers of most the world’s navies until the First World War.
The bicorn, or bicorne, referred to the hat having two points.
Between 1796 and 1803 the English navigator and chartmaker Matthew Flinders surveyed the Australian coastline in his ship Investigator. He was the first known European to circumnavigate the continent.
Some forms of bicorn were designed to be folded flat, so that they could be conveniently tucked under the arm when not being worn. A bicorn of this style is also known as a chapeau-bras or chapeau-de-bras.
To be knocked into a cocked hat is to be soundly and swiftly defeated.
The English called the shorter front brim of the bicorn ‘the cock’ and the longer rear brim was termed ‘the fan’. As a result, the bicorn is often referred to as a ‘cocked hat’.
The bicorn (hat) is an extremely rare garment from early colonial Australia and Britain.
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