The Cockade Column - Palmetto Cockades

Ahhh... the sand and the surf and the ocean breeze! Are you heading for the beach this summer? That's where today's cockade story is from!

The story starts back in June of 1776 during the American Revolution. On Sullivan's Island in Charleston, South Carolina, an incomplete and unnamed fort was bombarded by the British navy. But instead of disintegrating, the soft palmetto logs absorbed the cannonballs, making the walls stronger! Some reports say that cannonballs even bounced off the walls!

The Americans won the battle and thus was born the nickname of South Carolina: "The Palmetto State."

A young lady in Richmond, Virginia wrote that, "very nearly every woman wore a 'secession badge,' and a braid or rosette of palmetto on her hat, and heaped upon the young soldiers grateful and flattering attentions…”

A gentleman in Maryland told of his brave friend in that state of vehemently divided opinion. "To-day he (Hillard) wore his Palmetto Tree on the outside of his vest and in full view..."

The palmetto became so popular that one South Carolinian wrote, "Whole Companies from our State wore cockades of Palmetto made to imitate the tree or in Stars. Generally these were the work of some young lady."

I am no expert in palmetto braiding as my ancestors undoubtedly were, but I have enjoyed learning to copy some of the beautiful styles of palmetto cockades. Below is one of my favorites. Isn't it fun to see what it would have looked like with fresh green palm fronds?