RIAN archive 644465 First stage in the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

The Panamka (), also called a Panamanka by non-Russian speakers, was a common name for the standard tropical

headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's Human head, head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protective clothing, protection against t ...

of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. Officially, the M-38 Field Hat, the Panamka was introduced on 10 March 1938, for troops of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in the

Central Asian Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, North Caucasian and

Transcaucasian The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

military districts and

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. It was nicknamed ''Panamka'' in reference to

Panama hat An Ecuadorian hat, also known as a Panama hat, a Jipijapa hat, or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the '' Carludovica palmata'' plant, k ...

s, due to the vague physical resemblance between the two hats. The Panamka was popularized in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

imagery of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

in the 1980s, where it was often worn with the

Afghanka The Afghanka ( ; proper designation: Obr88) is a type of military uniform system developed and issued by the Soviet Army in the early 1980s, still in use today in some post-Soviet states in many different variants. The name ''Afghanka'' is an uno ...

uniform as Afghanistan was known for its extreme hot daytime temperatures in the summer and its equally bitter cold nights in the winter months. Two versions of the Panamka existed: * The original hat was developed to keep the rays of

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

off the wearer's head and out of his eyes. It was made of heavy cotton cloth and featured a set of ventilation holes, a thin leather headband, a plastic chinstrap, and the enameled metal M22 Red Star badge, on a large sewn on

red star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

, on the front. * A second version appeared with the Obr88 Afghanka, and more closely resembled the

boonie hat A boonie hat or booney hat is a type of wide-brim sun hat commonly used by military forces in hot tropical climates. Its design is similar to a bucket hat but with a stiffer brim. The Australian giggle hat has a thinner brim. Often a fabric ta ...

s used by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

forces. It had a plastic chinstrap that rested on the rim and could be set to hang down by unbuttoning one side and passing it through holes on the rim, but it was too short for use as such. The chinstrap could be used to hold the sides of the rim up, this likely being its intended purpose. It also did not feature the large sewn on red star. Later production examples also feature a flat top and snaps or press studs that allow it be buttoned up on the side similar to the Australian slouch or bush hat.

References

Sources

* * * Military equipment introduced in the 1930s Soviet military uniforms Military hats {{clothing-stub

See also

References

Sources