A
white feather has been a traditional symbol of cowardice, used and recognised especially within the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
and in countries associated with the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
since the 18th century. It also carries opposite meanings, however: in some cases of
pacifismPacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;...
, and in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, of extraordinary bravery and excellence in combat marksmanship.
The white feather as a symbol of cowardice comes from
cockfightA cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout the United States and in most of Europe....
ing and the belief that a
cockerelA rooster, also called a cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels. The oldest term is "cock," from Old English coc. It is sometimes replaced by the term "cockerel" in the United Kingdom, and...
sporting a white feather in its tail is likely to be a poor fighter.
A
white feather has been a traditional symbol of cowardice, used and recognised especially within the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
and in countries associated with the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
since the 18th century. It also carries opposite meanings, however: in some cases of
pacifismPacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;...
, and in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, of extraordinary bravery and excellence in combat marksmanship.
A symbol of cowardice
The white feather as a symbol of cowardice comes from
cockfightA cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters, held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout the United States and in most of Europe....
ing and the belief that a
cockerelA rooster, also called a cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels. The oldest term is "cock," from Old English coc. It is sometimes replaced by the term "cockerel" in the United Kingdom, and...
sporting a white feather in its tail is likely to be a poor fighter. Pure-breed gamecocks do not show white feathers, so its presence indicates that the cockerel is an inferior cross-breed.
The Four Feathers
The
adventure novelThe adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme. Adventure has been a common theme since the earliest days of written fiction....
The Four FeathersThe Four Feathers is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A.E.W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title.-Plot summary:...
(1902) by
A. E. W. MasonAlfred Edward Woodley Mason was a British author and politician. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel The Four Feathers.-Life:...
tells the story of Harry Faversham, an officer in the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
, who decides to resign his commission on the eve that his regiment is dispatched to fight in
SudanSudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area...
(the
1882 First War of SudanThe Mahdist War was a colonial war of the late 19th century. It was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese and the Egyptian and later British forces. It has also been called the Anglo-Sudan War or the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt. The British have called their part in the conflict the Sudan Campaign...
, leading to the fall of Khartoum). Harry's three fellow officers and his fiancée conclude that he is resigning in order to avoid fighting in the conflict and each send him a white feather. Stung by the criticism, Harry sails to Sudan, disguises himself as an Arab and looks for the opportunity to redeem his honour. He manages this by fighting a covert war on behalf of the British, saving the life of one of his colleagues in the process. On returning to England he gives back each of the feathers.
The romantic idealism of the novel has been popular for over a century and it has been the basis of at least seven feature films, the most recent being
The Four FeathersThe Four Feathers is a 2002 American drama film directed by Shekhar Kapur, starring Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Djimon Hounsou and Kate Hudson...
(2002), starring
Heath LedgerHeath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
.
The White Feather
Five years later
P. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English writer whose body of work includes novels, collections of short stories, and musical theatre. Wodehouse enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and his prolific writings continue to be widely read...
published
The White FeatherThe White Feather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on October 9 1907 by Adam & Charles Black, London. It is set at Wrykyn school, scene of Wodehouse's earlier book The Gold Bat , and the later Mike . Like many early Wodehouse novels, the story first appeared as a serial in the boys'...
, a
school storyThe school story is a fiction genre centering on older pre-adolescent and adolescent school life, at its most popular in the first half of the twentieth century. While examples do exist in other countries, it is most commonly set in English Boarding schools and mostly written in girls and boys sub...
about apparent cowardice and the efforts a boy went to in order to redeem himself by physical combat.
Cyrano de Bergerac
The last scene of
Cyrano de BergeracHector Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duellist who is now best remembered for the many works of fiction which have been woven around his life story...
by
Edmond RostandEdmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
also refers to a white feather.
Cyrano: "...For there is one thing I have left, void of smear or stain, and I take it with me despite you."
Roxanne: "And that is—? "
Cyrano: " My white plume. "
The meaning is left to the reader.
World War I
In August 1914, at the start of the
First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, Admiral
Charles FitzgeraldCharles Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy.-Family:His father was Robert Uniacke Penrose who married Francis Matilda Austin, daughter of the Revd Robert Austin, prebendary of Cloyne Cathedral. Charles married Henrietta Elizabeth Hewson on 29 November 1882, daughter of...
founded the Order of the White Feather with support from the prominent author
Mrs Humphrey WardMary Augusta Ward , was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward.- Early life:...
. The organisation aimed to coerce men to enlist in the British Army by persuading women to present them with a
white feather if they were not wearing a uniform.
The campaign was very effective, and spread throughout several other nations in the Empire, so much so that it started to cause problems for the government when public servants came under pressure to enlist. This prompted the
Home SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
,
Reginald McKennaReginald McKenna was a British banker and Liberal. He notably served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer during the premiership of H. H. Asquith.-Background and education:...
, to issue employees in state industries with lapel badges reading 'King and Country' to indicate that they too were serving the war effort.
However, although he was a serving soldier, the writer, Compton Mackenzie, complained about the activities of the Order of the White Feather. He argued that these "idiotic young women were using white feathers to get rid of boyfriends of whom they were tired". The pacifist, Fenner Brockway, claimed that he received so many white feathers he had enough to make a fan.
The
Silver War BadgeThe Silver War Badge was issued in the United Kingdom to service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness during World War I...
for service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness was first issued in September 1916 to prevent veterans from being challenged for not wearing uniform.
Roland GwynneLieutenant-Colonel Sir Roland Vaughan Gwynne, DSO, DL, JP was Mayor of Eastbourne, Sussex, from 1928 to 1931. He was also a patient, close friend and probable lover of the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams.-Childhood:...
, later mayor of
EastbourneEastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 106,652 as of 2009. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to...
(1929-1931) and lover of serial killer
John Bodkin AdamsJohn Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946-1956, more than 160 of his patients died under suspicious circumstances. Of these 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for the...
, received a feather from a relative. This prompted him to enlist, and he subsequently received the
Distinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
for bravery.
In music
The Order of the White Feather was the inspiration for the
Weddings Parties AnythingWeddings Parties Anything were an Australian folk rock band formed in 1984 in Melbourne and continuing until 1998...
song "Scorn of the Women", which concerns a man who is deemed medically unfit for service when he attempts to enlist, and is unjustly accused of cowardice.
In 1983,
new waveNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
band
KajagoogooKajagoogoo are a British pop band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1983.-Beginnings:...
released their debut album called
White FeathersWhite Feathers is the debut album by British new wave band Kajagoogoo, released in 1983. It was produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and Colin Thurston, who was Duran Duran's producer at the time, except for track #5, the self-titled "Kajagoogoo", an instrumental , which was produced by Tim...
, whose opener was the title track, a light-hearted allegory for weak people, whereas the final track,
Frayo, had a political flavour, referencing cowardice as the cause for an unchanging war-torn world.
A symbol of pacifism
In contrast, the
white feather has been partially embraced by
pacifistPacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;...
organisations as a sign of harmlessness.
In the 1870s, the
MaoriThe Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand . The group probably arrived in southwestern Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300...
prophet of passive resistance
Te Whiti o RongomaiTe Whiti o Rongomai III was a Māori spiritual leader and founder of the village of Parihaka, in New Zealand's Taranaki region....
promoted the wearing of white feathers by his followers at
ParihakaParihaka is a small community in Taranaki region, New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major campaign of non-violent resistance to European...
. They are still worn by the
iwiIn New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori populations. The word iwi means "people" or "folk"; in many contexts it may mean "tribe" or "clan", and sometimes a larger grouping of tribes...
associated with that area, and by
Te Ati AwaTe Āti Awa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with around 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and around 5,000 of unspecified regional location.-Geographical...
in
WellingtonWellington is the capital of New Zealand, at the southwestern tip of the North Island between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island and is New Zealand's third most populous urban area with residents. There are ...
. They are known as
te raukura, which literally means the red feather, but metaphorically, the chiefly feather. They are usually three in number, interpreted as standing for "glory to God, peace on earth, goodwill toward people" (Luke 2:14). Albatross feathers are preferred but any white feathers will do. They are usually worn in the hair or on the lapel (but not from the ear).
During the
First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
the pacifist Fenner Brockway received so many white feathers he was known to comment that he now had enough feathers to make a fan.
Some time after the war, pacifists found an alternative interpretation of the
white feather as a symbol of peace. The apocryphal story goes that in 1775, Quakers in a
Friends meeting houseA Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends , where meeting for worship may be held. Quakers do not believe that meeting for worship should take place in any special place. They believe that...
in
Easton, New YorkEaston is a town in southwestern Washington County, New York, United States along the county's western boundary. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 2,259 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Easton, Connecticut.-Geography:The west town line...
were faced by a tribe of
IndiansNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
on the war path. Rather than flee, the Quakers fell silent and waited. The Indian chief came into the meeting house and finding no weapons he declared the Quakers as friends. On leaving he took a white feather from his quiver and attached it to the door as a sign to leave the building unharmed. In 1937 the
Peace Pledge UnionThe Peace Pledge Union is a British pacifist non-governmental organization. It emerged from an initiative by Dick Sheppard, canon of St Paul's Cathedral, in 1934, after he had published a letter in the Manchester Guardian and other newspapers, inviting men to send him postcards pledging never to...
sold 500
white feather badges as symbols of peace.
In music
In 1985,
progressive rockProgressive rock is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility."...
band
MarillionMarillion are a British rock group. Formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England in 1979, their recorded studio output comprises fifteen albums and is generally regarded as comprising two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988 after their first...
released a concept album entitled
Misplaced ChildhoodMisplaced Childhood is the third studio album of the progressive rock band Marillion. It was released in 1985 and has been their most commercially successful album, reaching number one in the ....
, whose final track, "White Feather", was an explicit reference to pacifist idealism.
Other symbolism
In the United States, the white feather can symbolise superior combat markmanship. Its most notable wearer was
Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Gunnery SergeantGunnery Sergeant is the seventh enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps, just above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant and First Sergeant, and is a staff non-commissioned officer . It has a pay grade of E-7....
Carlos HathcockCarlos Norman Hathcock II was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the Marine Corps...
, who was awarded the
Silver StarThe Silver Star is the third highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is also the third highest award given for valor ....
medal for bravery during the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
. Its wear on combat headgear flaunts an insultingly easy target for enemy snipers.
External links