Manufactured with the same all-season fabric used for the Service uniform, the Officers’ Service cap frame crown features the distinct quatrefoil ornamentation that officially became a part of the uniform in 1859. Regulations call for the crown to be kept clean and wrinkle-free, and since it’s the part of the Service Cap most likely to become soiled or malformed, it only makes sense to keep an extra Service Cap crown on hand at all times rather than waiting until the current one doesn’t pass muster.
Because the United States Marine Corps uses the same frame as the basis for both the Service Cap and the Dress cap, United States Marine Corps Officers could theoretically “get by” owning a single cap frame and two sets of components (crown covers, chinstraps, screw-in chinstrap buttons, cap braid) to switch cap styles as needed. However, USMC uniform regulations rule out this bit of legerdemain by requiring male and female Officers to own both a Service and a Dress Cap (Tables 9-1 and 9-2, Minimum Requirements for Male and Female Officers, MCO 1020.3H).
Legend has it that the quatrefoil was introduced in the Corps’s nascent years in the form of knotted rope attached to the top of Officers’ hats, a crude visual-based IFF (“Identification friend or foe”) system that helped Marine sharpshooters perched in a ship’s rigging avoid targeting their comrades engaged in ship-boarding melees. the mundane truth is that it was most likely inspired by French or European uniform designs of the mid-19th century.
USMC Company-Grade Officer Service Cap Insignia / Accouterments
Officer Service Cap Insignia
Officer Service Cap Chin Strap
Service Cap Screw Post Buttons
More USMC Company-Grade Officer Insignia / Accouterments
Officer Dress Cap Crown
Officer Dress Cap Insignia
Officer Dress Cap Chin Strap
Dress Cap Buttons
Officer Gold Tie Tack
Officer Cuff Links