In various European countries, student caps of different types are, or have been, worn either as a marker of a common identity, as is the case in the Nordic countries, or to identify the wearer as a member of a smaller body within the larger group of students, as is the case with the caps worn by members of German Studentenverbindungen, or student groups in Belgium.
A collection of various models in 1943 (from left to right: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish).
A penne from the Université Libre de Bruxelles
A French student wearing a faluche
The Danish black model, used in the late 19th century
The calotte is a skullcap worn by students at Catholic universities in Belgium. It originates from the skullcap worn by the Papal Zouave regiment around 1860.
The calotte is cylindrical, made from velvet and astrakhan. The color of the top is bordeau red for the universities of Brussels, Leuven, Louvain-la-Neuve and Namur, white for the university of Ghent and emerald for the university of Liège.
In the front of the calotte are stripes representing the Belgian flag and stripes representing the colors of the city or the university where the calotte has been received. At the back of the calotte, the faculty of the student is represented by a color and a symbol, with if needed an additional symbol to determine the speciality. Golden stars around the calotte represent the number of years that the student has studied successfully. In addition to that, a number of official and personal pins will be added to the calotte, all representing facts about its owner. Examples include:Official position in a student organisation
Hobbies and occupations
Character
Belgian law students at Catholic University of Leuven (around 1921-1922) five of them wearing the "calotte" skull-cap.