Green beret
U.S. Special Forces wear the green beret as a distinction of excellence and uniqueness within the Army.
United States Army Special Forces in popular culture
Members of the U.S. Army Special Forces will emphatically assert that the "Green Beret" is a hat and not the man who wears it. Nevertheless, for a time in the 1960s the Green Berets and the men who wore them became a national fad emerging in a wide variety of popular culture referents. After a decline in popularity during the 1970s — coinciding with the American public's backlash against the Vietnam War — the Green Berets gripped the popular imagination again beginning with the Rambo film franchise in 1982. They continue to appear as both major and minor referents in popular culture — especially in movies and television — often serving as a shorthand signifier for a shady or covert military background for a fictional character. As a dramatic device, this can cut both ways — i.e., lead an audience to either admire or fear (or both) a character.