Sola topi

The pith helmet (Spanish: salacot) also known as the safari helmet, sun helmet, topee, sola topee or topi is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of pith material. Pith helmets were often worn by European travelers and explorers, in the varying climates found in Africa, Southeast Asia, as well as the tropics, but have also been used in many other contexts. They were routinely issued to European military personnel serving overseas "in hot climates" from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century.

The pith helmet was first worn by Spanish forces during the colonial era of the Spanish East Indies, and was later adopted by the French in Indochina due to its effectiveness in protecting from damp and humid weather. Subsequently, it was commonly worn by non-indigenous officers commanding locally recruited troops in the colonial armies of France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Imperial Germany and the Netherlands, as well as civilian officials in their territories. As such it became something of a symbol of colonial rule. Helmets of a similar style (but without true pith construction) continued to be used, as late as World War II, by European and American military personnel.

Such was the popularity of the pith helmet that it became a common civilian headgear for Westerners in the tropics from the end of the 19th century. The civilian pith helmet was typically less decorative and more practical, not as tall as the military counterpart, and with a wide brim all round. It was worn by men and women, old and young, both in formal and casual occasions, until the Second World War. After the war, the Viet Minh of Vietnam copied the pith helmet from the former French colonizer, and adopted it as their own. Today it is still widely worn by both civilians and the military in Vietnam; it is similar to the pre-World War II civilian type, but covered in jungle green cloth, sometimes with a metal insignia at the front or back.

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