The legionnaire hat (also called a foreign legion cap, flap hat, or curtain cap) is the most effectively designed sun protection hat available, and consistently the least fashionable. The hat's defining feature -- a rear neck flap that extends from the brim of a baseball-style cap to cover the neck and sometimes the ears -- was designed specifically to protect the back of the neck from the sun, which is consistently the most UV-exposed and most often neglected area of the face and head. That this highly effective design is rarely recommended in adult hat advice while being universally recommended in children's sun safety is a good illustration of how fashion considerations override practical ones in adult clothing decisions.
What a Legionnaire Hat Is
A legionnaire hat is a forward-peaked cap with an attached fabric flap at the rear that covers the neck and sometimes the lower ears. The name derives from the French Foreign Legion's adoption of a similar head covering (with a white neck cover attached to the kepi) for desert service in North Africa -- a visible example of practical military sun protection design.
Key features:
- Forward-projecting brim (typically the standard short brim of a baseball or activity cap)
- Rear neck flap (also called a curtain or bavolet) that extends to cover the nape of the neck and sometimes the ears. The flap may be fixed or removable
- Typically made from lightweight, fast-drying synthetic materials (nylon, polyester) in UPF-rated fabrics
- Often with ventilation elements in the crown for heat management
Why the Neck Needs Protection
The back of the neck is statistically one of the highest-risk areas for skin cancer in outdoor workers and people who spend extended time outdoors. The reasons:
- The neck is almost always exposed when outdoors -- it is not covered by hair (or hair provides minimal coverage for shorter hairstyles), and it is below the hat's rear brim on any conventional hat
- The rear neck faces skyward when the head is tilted forward, which happens automatically during many outdoor activities (walking, working, reading outside) -- this position maximises UV exposure to the neck
- Most people apply sunscreen less reliably to the back of the neck than to the face, leaving it with less protection than other exposed areas
A legionnaire hat addresses this by providing physical UV protection to the neck that does not require sunscreen application or reapplication. The hat's flap is present whenever the hat is worn, regardless of whether sunscreen was remembered or has been sweated off.
Where Legionnaire Hats Are Used
Children's Outdoor and School Wear
The legionnaire hat is the recommended sun hat style in Australian and New Zealand school sun safety programs (the 'no hat, no play' policy common in Australian schools specifies hats with neck coverage). For children who spend outdoor play time in high UV conditions, the legionnaire hat provides better comprehensive coverage than any other hat style. This is why you will see legionnaire hats in school uniform lists in countries with high UV exposure.
Outdoor Workers
Agricultural workers, construction workers, and others who spend full work days outdoors in sun use legionnaire hats for sustained UV protection. The hat's practical design (washable, fast-drying, non-constraining) suits work conditions where a more structured hat would be impractical.
Outdoor Recreation
Hikers, cyclists (with the flap worn under a helmet), surfers, and other outdoor enthusiasts use legionnaire hats for sustained sun exposure. The hat's function-first design is well-aligned with outdoor recreation priorities.
The Fashion Challenge
The legionnaire hat is rarely seen in fashion contexts or in the general adult casual hat market. The neck flap is the visual element that limits fashion acceptance -- it is associated with children's hats, with extreme sun protection, and with outdoor work wear rather than with any aesthetically sophisticated context. The hat's highly practical function has not been successfully translated into a product that fashion-conscious adults will adopt for everyday use.
For adult sun protection use, the wide-brim hat is the compromise: it provides face, ear, and partial neck coverage (from the brim's shadow) without the legionnaire's direct neck coverage or its aesthetic limitations. The wide-brim hat looks better; the legionnaire hat works better for neck protection. Where sun protection is genuinely the priority over appearance (extended outdoor activities, high UV conditions), the legionnaire hat's functional superiority should override the fashion consideration.
Browse outdoor sun hats, wide-brim sun hats, and UV-protective styles at Hatloom.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best hat for neck sun protection?
The legionnaire hat with a neck flap is the most effective hat for neck sun protection because it physically covers the neck with UPF-rated fabric regardless of sun angle or head position. A wide-brim hat provides neck protection when the brim's shadow falls on the neck (when the sun is overhead and the head is upright) but provides less protection when the sun is at a low angle or when the head is tilted forward. For maximum and consistent neck protection, particularly in very high UV conditions (high altitude, desert, tropical), a legionnaire hat is more reliably protective than a wide-brim alternative.
What is the flap on a legionnaire hat called?
The rear neck-covering flap on a legionnaire hat is called a neck flap, curtain, or bavolet. 'Bavolet' is the specific French term (from the French Foreign Legion tradition) that is sometimes used in hat and military clothing contexts. In children's hat descriptions, 'neck flap' or 'neck cover' are the most commonly used terms. In outdoor and performance hat marketing, 'UPF neck protection' or 'neck curtain' are typical descriptions.
Can legionnaire hats be fashionable?
In specific contexts, yes. The legionnaire hat has appeared in fashion editorial contexts as part of utilitarian and outdoor-influenced aesthetics, and some Japanese streetwear and outdoor fashion brands have produced legionnaire-inspired designs in quality materials with refined construction. The aesthetically successful versions tend to emphasise quality of material and construction, a clean silhouette, and a colour palette that avoids the high-visibility safety colours associated with work wear. Whether this constitutes genuine fashion adoption or niche streetwear reference depends on the viewer, but the hat's functional excellence and its unusual position as an effective but underused adult sun protection option gives it a genuine case as a practical everyday hat for outdoor-active adults.