Brewer's: Cockade

The men-servants of the military wear a small black cockade on their hat, the Hanoverian badge. The Stuart cockade was white. At the battle of Sherra-Muir, in the reign of George I., the English soldiers wore a black rosette in their hats. In the song of Sherra-Muir the English soldiers are called “the red-coat lads wi' black cockades.” (French, cocarde; German, kokarde.)

In the British Army and Navy the cockade, since the Hanoverian accession, has been black. AUSTRIAN cockade is black and yellow. All sentry boxes and boundary posts are so painted. Ein schwarz-gelber was the nickname of an Austrian Imperialist in 1848.

BAVARIA, light blue and white are the royal colours.

BELGIUM, black, yellow, and red.

FRANCE (regal), the royal colour was white.

HANOVER, the cockade was black. Black enters into all the German cockades.

PRUSSIA, black and white are the royal colours.

RUSSIA, green and white are the royal colours.

To mount the cockade.

To become a soldier. From time immemorial the partisans of different leaders have adopted some emblem to show their party; in 1767 an authoritative regulation determined that every French soldier should wear a white cockade, and in 1782 the badge was restricted to the military. The phrase given above is common both to England and France.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Cockaigne

Cock your Hat