Despite the Spanish defeat during the Spanish-American War, which cost the nation its colonies in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines the nation continued to maintain a modern army. During the 19th century the Spanish military had worn French-made sun helmets that were in essence copies of the 1886 pattern – but the Spanish also used British made helmets throughout its empire. After the Spanish-American War the Spanish even adopted a helmet that was a copy of the Wolseley pattern.

Spain had introduced a domestically-made version of the British Wolseley helmet in the early 20th century.

However, by the 1920s – likely due to production costs – the Spanish Navy adopted a straw sun hat that in appearance was similar to “flapper hats” worn by women of the era. These hats were made domestically in Spain and were likely produced by a number of the nation’s hat makers.

It is worth considering that Spain, which had overseas colonies dating back to the early 16th century, was among the first nations to adopt tropical headgear and this included woven straw hats. So in many ways these hats essentially took the sun helmet full circle and back to its simple origins.

Moreover, the Spanish Army had already used a woven straw hat throughout its overseas colonies – notably in Cuba – to supplement the more expensive cork sun helmets. The sun hats lacked the rigidity of the sun helmets, but still provided adequate cover to the wearer’s head. These were fitted with a tally indicating the ship or vessel.

This sun hat was used on the Jaime I, which served in the Spanish fleet from 1921 to 1937. She was the third and final member of the España class of dreadnought battleships of the Spanish Navy. The Jaime I, which was launched in September 1914 and completed in 1921, participated in the Rif War. The ship was damaged in by a rebel coastal battery but later served with the Republican Navy during the Spanish Civil War. The Jaime I was attacked in June 1937 but was destroyed by an accidental explosion.

This sun hat was used on the Spanish Navy’s experimental submarine, named for Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, a Spanish engineer who worked on submarine propulsion systems.

The interior of the Spanish sun hats shows the maker label to Joaquin Viñolas in Barcelona, Spain.

The use of these hats likely ended during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), but it is likely that these were in use by the Spanish Republican Navy at least into the early 1930s. Very few of these hats have survived, and apart from a handful in museums, the two in the above photographs are among the only examples known in private collections.

Peter Suciu

October 2019