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Alternate Terminology: Rosettes, Cockades and Revolutionary Flags
- Thread starter AndyC
- Start date
- Location
- Derbyshire
Of course, in many ways that original striking distinctiveness of the Tricolour has been diluted by having so many imitators.
- Location
- Op een dag, Nederland.
- Pronouns
- she/her & ne/nem
- Location
- Op een dag, Nederland.
- Pronouns
- she/her & ne/nem
@Thande
The Federalist cockade is traditionally black and white, but those days are normally black and blue, reflecting the Federalists' shift to using blue instead of black as their political colour.
Cockade
It is perhaps peculiar that the political tradition of wearing a rose-shaped thing on your person is a common tradition between Britain and America. But the American cockade is very different from the British rosette. For one, it's traditionally worn on a hat [the type of hat doesn't matter, just ask the late president George Custer who wore his Federalist cockade proudly on his wide-brimmed hat. Notably, he was the last Federalist president to wear a black-and-white cockade, with Gorman and Miles choosing the more "modern" black-and-blue], yet it's acceptable to wear it on your lapel if you don't normally wear a hat or it's too warm to do so. Wearing it on your lapel has gotten more popular lately, due to the symbolism that it implies, that your political beliefs are close to your heart.
The cockade being an American tradition derives from 18th and 19th European tradition of wearing it to show political affiliation to a cause. This carried over to America where the Federalists wore a black and white cockade while the Republicans wore ones in the "American" colours of red, white and blue. The long struggle of power between Federalists and Republicans led to cockades being an accepted tradition in America, even as it dwindled in Europe.
The Federalists have a traditional cockade and a modern one. You can find portraits of Rufus Choate, Robert E. Lee, etcetera, wearing the black and white cockade, the traditional colours for Federalists. But as time went on, the Federalists' link to black dwindled as new Federalists increasingly preferred the colour blue [which will be explained below]. The usage of blue-and-white cockades led to a short and bizarre dispute between more liberal "Blue" Federalists and more conservative "Black" Federalists that was more or less settled by the rise of the "blue-and-black" cockade.
The Republican cockade was in the American colours, so while the Federalists more or less adopted a clear political colour from the start, the Republicans refused to use one [the normally-used colour on *Wikipedia - green - is because America is used to "green vs. blue" thanks to the Workers' Party fully embracing that colour] instead preferring to portray themselves as "100% American". With the fall of the Republicans in the 1840s [which also granted us the famously-ugly half-black-and-white, half-red-white-blue cockade representing the "Sensible Government" fusion], there was an attempt to "split" the American colours to show all parties were patriotic. The Free-Americans unhesistantly seized red, the colour of radicalism, while younger Federalists adopted blue [creating tension with more traditionalist "black-and-white" cockade-wearers]. The "white" colour was first adopted by Christian Democrats, and then later on by the Agrarian-Populists, however the latter added yellow to make it a yellow-and-white one.
The Free-American red cockade. A blue-and-red variant is still used by Liberal Federalists.
A reproduction of the Agrarian-Populist cockade.
The Workers' Party's strong adoption of the colour sea-green derives from Symbiotism which used the colour because Arthur Boyd identified with the historical Levellers in the English Commonwealth which he saw as the philosophical ancestors of Symbiotism. Over time, this bold usage of one specific colour which none of the other parties used, overwhelmed the other usages [including red-and-orange] to become the colour of the Workers' Party. The usage of sea-green was then added with white during the Custer years to present a more "American" variant.
An original Workers' Party cockade that was worn by Henry Whipple on Election Day, 1876.
Sometimes you'll see purple or brown cockades, those represent Reformism and Truth and Light respectively. Most often, purple is mixed with either sea-green or blue to represent "Reformist-Workers'" or "Reformist-Federalist". Hiram Johnson famously wore a huge tricolour cockade on his hat which he said represented his ability to work with both sides. The Constitution Party has preferred to adopt the old Republican tricolour, portraying themselves as "patriots" above mere politics [however, the usage of gold-and-white cockades is not unknown, worn by them as they supported the "Gold Standard"].
As of 1912, with Rabinovich wearing a sea-green and white Workers' Party cockade on his lapel and Washington wearing the modern blue-and-black Federalist Party cockade on his hat, the tradition of wearing a political symbol on your chest or hat seems to be here to stay in America. And it has in turn entrenched political colours as well, with blue being undeniably Federalist and sea-green Workers'. Can you even imagine an America where political colours were not decided until the far-flung year of say, 2000?
The Federalist cockade is traditionally black and white, but those days are normally black and blue, reflecting the Federalists' shift to using blue instead of black as their political colour.
Cockade
It is perhaps peculiar that the political tradition of wearing a rose-shaped thing on your person is a common tradition between Britain and America. But the American cockade is very different from the British rosette. For one, it's traditionally worn on a hat [the type of hat doesn't matter, just ask the late president George Custer who wore his Federalist cockade proudly on his wide-brimmed hat. Notably, he was the last Federalist president to wear a black-and-white cockade, with Gorman and Miles choosing the more "modern" black-and-blue], yet it's acceptable to wear it on your lapel if you don't normally wear a hat or it's too warm to do so. Wearing it on your lapel has gotten more popular lately, due to the symbolism that it implies, that your political beliefs are close to your heart.
The cockade being an American tradition derives from 18th and 19th European tradition of wearing it to show political affiliation to a cause. This carried over to America where the Federalists wore a black and white cockade while the Republicans wore ones in the "American" colours of red, white and blue. The long struggle of power between Federalists and Republicans led to cockades being an accepted tradition in America, even as it dwindled in Europe.
The Federalists have a traditional cockade and a modern one. You can find portraits of Rufus Choate, Robert E. Lee, etcetera, wearing the black and white cockade, the traditional colours for Federalists. But as time went on, the Federalists' link to black dwindled as new Federalists increasingly preferred the colour blue [which will be explained below]. The usage of blue-and-white cockades led to a short and bizarre dispute between more liberal "Blue" Federalists and more conservative "Black" Federalists that was more or less settled by the rise of the "blue-and-black" cockade.
The Republican cockade was in the American colours, so while the Federalists more or less adopted a clear political colour from the start, the Republicans refused to use one [the normally-used colour on *Wikipedia - green - is because America is used to "green vs. blue" thanks to the Workers' Party fully embracing that colour] instead preferring to portray themselves as "100% American". With the fall of the Republicans in the 1840s [which also granted us the famously-ugly half-black-and-white, half-red-white-blue cockade representing the "Sensible Government" fusion], there was an attempt to "split" the American colours to show all parties were patriotic. The Free-Americans unhesistantly seized red, the colour of radicalism, while younger Federalists adopted blue [creating tension with more traditionalist "black-and-white" cockade-wearers]. The "white" colour was first adopted by Christian Democrats, and then later on by the Agrarian-Populists, however the latter added yellow to make it a yellow-and-white one.
The Free-American red cockade. A blue-and-red variant is still used by Liberal Federalists.
A reproduction of the Agrarian-Populist cockade.
The Workers' Party's strong adoption of the colour sea-green derives from Symbiotism which used the colour because Arthur Boyd identified with the historical Levellers in the English Commonwealth which he saw as the philosophical ancestors of Symbiotism. Over time, this bold usage of one specific colour which none of the other parties used, overwhelmed the other usages [including red-and-orange] to become the colour of the Workers' Party. The usage of sea-green was then added with white during the Custer years to present a more "American" variant.
An original Workers' Party cockade that was worn by Henry Whipple on Election Day, 1876.
Sometimes you'll see purple or brown cockades, those represent Reformism and Truth and Light respectively. Most often, purple is mixed with either sea-green or blue to represent "Reformist-Workers'" or "Reformist-Federalist". Hiram Johnson famously wore a huge tricolour cockade on his hat which he said represented his ability to work with both sides. The Constitution Party has preferred to adopt the old Republican tricolour, portraying themselves as "patriots" above mere politics [however, the usage of gold-and-white cockades is not unknown, worn by them as they supported the "Gold Standard"].
As of 1912, with Rabinovich wearing a sea-green and white Workers' Party cockade on his lapel and Washington wearing the modern blue-and-black Federalist Party cockade on his hat, the tradition of wearing a political symbol on your chest or hat seems to be here to stay in America. And it has in turn entrenched political colours as well, with blue being undeniably Federalist and sea-green Workers'. Can you even imagine an America where political colours were not decided until the far-flung year of say, 2000?
napoleon IV
Sheer Animal Cunning of the Groundhog
- Location
- Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- Pronouns
- he/him
One interesting example:
Today the anarchist movement is known for using the color black. However, at the start of the movement they used the color red, for much the same reasons that socialists/communists do. As the socialist and anarchist movements separated the anarchists gradually dropped red in favor of black, but it wasn't until the October Revolution that anarchists quit using red. In a world where Marxism doesn't exist or something of that sort we could be calling anarchists "reds."
Today the anarchist movement is known for using the color black. However, at the start of the movement they used the color red, for much the same reasons that socialists/communists do. As the socialist and anarchist movements separated the anarchists gradually dropped red in favor of black, but it wasn't until the October Revolution that anarchists quit using red. In a world where Marxism doesn't exist or something of that sort we could be calling anarchists "reds."
- Location
- Colwyn Bay/Manchester
- Pronouns
- He/him
At one point weren't white and black cockades used for Jacobite vs Hanoverian (or the other way round) or am I (or someone I read) making that up?
Polemarchos
Member
I just red about this too. Remember that red signified no quarter. Also remember that socialism predates Marx, and that anarchists grew out of that tradition.
- Location
- Glossopdale, Derbyshire
No Owen, you've got it right.
Lemon flavoured
Extremely Online and incoherent
- Location
- Hucknall, Notts
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Interesting article, definitely.
The one thing that I think which could be added, but which is maybe only tangentially related, is the history of the rainbow flag and it's various derivatives among the LGBT rights movement. I don't know enough about it to write such a thing however.
The one thing that I think which could be added, but which is maybe only tangentially related, is the history of the rainbow flag and it's various derivatives among the LGBT rights movement. I don't know enough about it to write such a thing however.
Francisco Cojuanco
Sometime traitor to his class
- Location
- Arizona
Ironically, at the time, and still today in much of Europe, the color black stood for Catholic and later Christian Democratic parties generally, due to the customary cassock of the clergy (which also to a large extent was stansardized in the 19th century). The main exception was in Germany, where in the pre WWII era, the traditional color for Zentrum was (and still is, they still exist as a continuity faction) yellow, after the Papal flag.
That's odd because I've heard the CDU's black as being derivative of "Zentrum black". And also the modern Zentrum logo uses blue, not yellow.
Francisco Cojuanco
Sometime traitor to his class
- Location
- Arizona
Hmmm.That's odd because I've heard the CDU's black as being derivative of "Zentrum black". And also the modern Zentrum logo uses blue, not yellow.
You might be right. Maybe something changed after the War?