Have you ever wondered what the little cap on top of the flag pole on old chips represents? Here are a few articles.

Phrygian cap, soft felt or wool conical headdress fitting closely around the head and characterized by a pointed crown that curls forward. It originated in the ancient country of Phrygia in Asia Minor and is represented in ancient Greek art as the type of headdress worn by Orientals. In Rome the Phrygian cap was worn by emancipated slaves as a symbol of their freedom. During the 11th and 12th centuries, it was again extensively used.

English: A phrygian cap on a pole. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Roman Dictator Julius Caesar by a group of Rome's Senators on 44 BC. Immediately after Caesar was killed, the leaders of the assassination plot, went to meet a crowd of Romans at the Roman Forum; a Phrygian cap from a freed slave was placed atop a pole to show the Romans, that symbolized that the Roman people had been freed from the rule of Caesar, that the assassins claimed had become a tyranny because it overstepped the authority of the Senate and thus betrayed the Republic. The symbol has since been used by supporters of republicanism and is used as a symbol on the state emblems of many republics.

The Phrygian cap has been used to symbolize liberty in numerous countries of the Americas. For example, starting in 1793, U.S. coinage frequently showed liberty wearing the cap or, on many 19th-century pieces, holding it on a Liberty Pole. The cap's last appearance on circulating coinage was the Walking Liberty Half Dollar, which was minted through 1947 (and reused on the current bullion American Silver Eagle). The U.S. Army has, since 1778, utilized a "War Office Seal" in which the motto "This We'll Defend" is displayed directly over a Phrygian cap on an upturned sword. It also appears on the state flags of West Virginia (as part of its official seal), New Jersey, and New York, as well as the official seal of the United States Senate, the state of Iowa, the state of North Carolina (as well as the arms of its Senate, and on the reverse side of the Seal of Virginia.

Other Countries. Elsewhere, the cap was incorporated into the symbol of the late 18th century Irish revolutionary movement known as the Society of the United Irishmen. It also carried over to Latin American revolutions of the 1820s. The cap appeared on Mexican coins through the late 19th century into the mid 20th century (including the old 8 Reales coin). Today, it is featured of the coats of arms, national flags or seals of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, Paraguay and Cuba. In Argentina it appears not only on the national arms and flag, but also those of the army and navy, on presidential flags and the flags of provinces including Corrientes, Jujuy, Mendoza and San Juan. As in the US, the cap invariably seems to feature on top of a stick, rather than people's heads.

OK class that's enough history for today