Phrygian cap

American  

noun

1. a soft, conical cap represented in ancient Greek art as part of Phrygian dress and associated, since the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with the liberty cap.

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Phrygian cap British  

noun

1. a conical cap of soft material worn during ancient times that became a symbol of liberty during the French Revolution

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Etymology

Origin of Phrygian cap

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

This year’s Olympic mascots are the Phryge and the Paralympic Phryge, small creatures that resemble a Phrygian cap, a slightly drooping, cone-shaped hat typically associated with themes of liberty in European and colonial cultures.

From Salon • Jul. 25, 2024

“The Phrygian cap embodies the ability we all have together when we collectively decide to rise up to strive for better,” Paris organizing committee brand director Julie Matikhine said.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 14, 2022

“The Phrygian cap represents a brief preoccupation of mine,” Mr. Puryear told The Times last year.

From New York Times • Aug. 15, 2018

She mentions the Phrygian cap, adopted as a symbol by the colonists, who also made homespun cloth to replace fine British textiles, as a gesture of their rejection of British rule.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 25, 2017

Now might come a Saxon wearing the beard and a sort of Phrygian cap, as a sign of defiance—now a knight from the Marches of the Northern border.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White