Beret, olive green (boina verde olivo)

Clothing/Dress/Costume

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Beret, olive green (boina verde olivo)

Entry/Object ID

2026.1.5

Description

Adult's round, flat-crowned beret of olive-green woven cloth. Constructed crown with a separate tan twill lining; headband finished with a dark leather or imitation-leather sweatband; interior woven-cotton adjustment tape/drawstring exits at the rear. No badge, cockade, or unit insignia present or retained.

Collection

María Teresa Cornide Hernández collection

Acquisition

Accession

2026.1

Notes

Belonged to Maria Teresa Cornide

Clothing/Dress/Costume Details

Article of Clothing/Dress/Costume

Hat

Notes

Materials: Shell — olive-green plain-weave cotton or cotton blend (fiber unconfirmed). Lining — tan/khaki twill-weave cotton. Sweatband — black leather or imitation leather (unconfirmed). Adjustment tab — woven cotton herringbone tape. Technique: Machine-sewn; separately lined constructed crown with a bound (edge-folded) headband and interior drawstring/tab sizing.

Made/Created

Notes

Maker: Unknown. No maker's mark, label, or stamp present (confirmed after cropping, zooming, and contrast-enhancing the interior). Date: Not datable from the object. Circa 1960–1985 (inferred, tentative). Place of Origin: Cuba (attributed). No country-of-origin label or maker's mark is present, so Cuban manufacture is inferred rather than confirmed; Cuban-used berets of this period were both domestically produced and imported from socialist-bloc suppliers. Tentative.

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

M.T.T.

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

use

Research Notes

Notes

The olive-green beret specifically became the emblem of the Milicias Nacionales Revolucionarias (MNR) and the Milicias de Tropas Territoriales (MTT): the olive-green beret became the symbol of having passed all the tests of the militia course, which culminated in the well-known 62-kilometer march. Each militiaman was required to complete the 62 kilometers on foot to join a militia battalion and then receive the emblematic olive-green beret. The early-1960s militia uniform paired blue denim shirts with olive-green trousers and berets. The militia force, which numbered some 300,000 in 1961 and played a role in the response to the Bay of Pigs invasion, lost relevance around 1964, and in 1965 the MINFAR prohibited civilian arms possession. If this is an MNR militia beret, a date of circa 1960–1965 would apply.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

February 1, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 18, 2026