Hungary, Kingdom. An Air Force Side Cap, c.1943

This side cap has a brownish-green wool exterior, with a fold down flap around the circumference, the cap itself designed to slope gently towards the rear, a smaller panel at the front behind the fold down flap, the seams highlighted throughout in light brown threading. The front has two 15.3 mm wide brown-finished magnetic metal buttons bearing the Hungarian Air Force insignia, with a 30.3 mm wide cockade above at the peak, the cockade in magnetic metal and finished in brown, the centrepiece painted with red, white and green horizontal stripes, representative of the Hungarian flag. The left side has a 63.7 mm (w) x 41.5 mm (h) chocolate die-stamped brown-finished magnetic metal insignia, illustrating the crowned eagle of the Hungarian Air Force, the insignia secured in place via olive green threading fed through the die-holes at either end and secured in place on the underside of the fold down flap. Inside, the cap has a 33 mm wide chocolate brown leather sweatband, the interior lined in a thick light brown cotton. It measures 270 mm (w) x 140 mm (h), exhibiting light wear on the brown finish on both the buttons and insignia, chipping in the paint on the cockade, moderate wear on the sweatband. It is free of mothing, the stitching intact, near extremely fine.