The Hong Kong Police during inspection

The conical Asian hat, known as a “rice hat,” “paddy hat” or even “coolie hat” originated in East and Southeast Asia, particularly China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. While primarily used by civilians, the hat has been a military head dress and was used by Vietcong forces in the Vietnam War. But the conical hat was also used alongside the military sun helmet by Chinese and other native units. One in particular was the Hong Kong Police, which was established in 1844. Continue reading →