Why do the Special Forces wear green berets?
25921355#11
U.S. Army Special Forces wear the green beret because of their link to the British Commandos of World War II. The first Ranger unit, commonly known as Darby's Rangers, was formed in Northern Ireland during the summer of 1942. On completion of training at the Commando Training Depot at Achnacarry Castle in Scotland, those Rangers had the right to wear the British Commando green beret, but it was not part of the regulation uniform at the time and was disallowed by the U.S. Army. 
The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) had many veterans of World War II and Korea in its ranks when it was formed in 1952. Members of the 10th SFG began to unofficially wear a variety of berets while training, some favoring the red or maroon airborne beret, the black beret, or the green commando beret. In 1953, a beret whose design was based on that of the Canadian Army pattern, and which was rifle-green in color, was chosen for wear by Special Forces units.
Berets of the United States Army
845648#16
The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) had many OSS World War II veterans in their ranks when it was formed in 1952. They began to unofficially wear a berets of varying colour while training. The color green became favored because it was reminiscent of the World War II British Commando-type beret. The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) deployed to Bad Tolz, Germany in September 1953. The remaining cadre at Fort Bragg formed the 77th Special Forces Group. Members of the 77th SFG began searching through their collections of berets and settled on the Rifle Green colour of the British Rifle Regiments (as opposed to the Lovat Green of the Commandos) from Captain Mike de la Pena's collection. Captain Frank Dallas had the new beret designed and produced in small numbers for the members of the Special Forces.
Green beret
845648#15
U.S. Special Forces wear the green beret as a distinction of excellence and uniqueness within the Army.
Green beret
845648#19
When visiting the Special Forces at Fort Bragg on 12 October 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Brigadier General William P. Yarborough to make sure that the men under his command wore green berets for the visit. Later that day, Kennedy sent a memorandum which included the line: "I am sure that the green beret will be a mark of distinction in the trying times ahead". By America's entry into the Vietnam War, the green beret had become a symbol of excellence throughout the US Army. On April 11, 1962 in a White House memorandum to the United States Army, President Kennedy reiterated his view: "The green beret is a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom". To no avail, both Yarborough and Edson Raff had previously petitioned the Pentagon to allow wearing of the green beret. The President, however, did not fail them.
Green beret
812412#3
At the time of its creation, the Special Forces Tab was retroactively awarded to any Army soldiers previously Special Forces-qualified. In addition, as set forth in Army regulations, veterans of certain categories of former wartime service are also eligible for retroactive awards of the tab. Among these are:Before creation of the Special Forces Tab, Special Forces status was indicated by wearing a full-size unit flash on the green beret. A support soldier (military intelligence soldiers, signal personnel, parachute riggers, clerical and administrative personnel, etc.) assigned to a Special Forces unit wore a 1/4" high bar (nicknamed a "Candy Stripe") below the Special Forces Crest on their green beret. The bar matched the colors of the unit's flash. This was not, however, the norm during the Vietnam war, when all soldiers assigned to 5th Special Forces wore identical unit flashes. After the creation of the tab in 1983 and until January 1993, all personnel in a Special Forces unit wore the same beret and flash. Today, only Special Forces-qualified soldiers may wear the green beret, making obsolete the unit bar under the flash. Each Special Forces Group has its own unique beret flash, which is worn by all members assigned to the unit; Special Forces-qualified soldiers wear it on the green beret while support personnel wear it on the maroon beret.
Special Forces Tab
9390950#5
Only members of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) wear the tan beret, regardless of whether they are Army, Navy or Air Force. This includes members of Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2), the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR), the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit (CJIRU) and 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. The standard berets of the Canadian Navy, Army, and Air Force are black, green, and blue, respectively. The Canadian Forces search and rescue technicians wear the distinctive orange beret. Canadian Forces Military Police wear a scarlet beret, all personnel part of an airborne unit wear maroon and those members attached to an armoured regiment are issued black berets as part of their uniform.
Tan beret
8936861#8
The green beret was authorized for wear by Col. William E. Ekman, the group commander, in 1954, and it became group policy. By 1955, every soldier in the unit wore a green beret as part of the uniform. However, the Department of the Army (DA) did not recognize the beret as headgear. The DA banned the wear of the beret, but it was later restored by President Kennedy, a major champion of the Special Forces.
10th Special Forces Group (United States)
15579134#43
Several berets in alternate colors to the Army standard black beret are also used. Personnel assigned to units trained and equipped for parachute infiltration, known as airborne forces—such as the 82nd Airborne Division—are authorized to wear the maroon beret while paratroopers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment wear tan berets. Soldiers who graduate from the Special Forces Qualification Course are authorized to wear the green beret. The Army's newest units, the Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs), are authorized to wear a dark-brown beret.
Uniforms of the United States Army
4139112#8
Army officers, NCOs, and enlisted personnel generally wear gray service uniforms. For tropical areas they wear gray-green service uniforms. Army fatigue uniforms are olive green, and combat uniforms consist of US woodland pattern camouflage and Desert pattern camouflage. The standard headgear for enlisted personnel is the beret bearing the national colors red, yellow and green. Armored troops are distinguished by black berets, and paratroops also by black berets. Special forces wear distinctive camouflage uniforms with green berets.
Bolivian Army
845648#12
In the United Kingdom all Royal Marines who have passed the Commando Course wear the green beret. Personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force volunteering for service with 3 Commando Brigade undertake the All Arms Commando Course, completion of which allows individuals to wear the headdress. Commando-qualified Royal Marines always wear the green beret, with the Globe and Laurel cap badge and commando-qualified personnel from other armed services wear the beret, with their own cap badge, when serving with commando units unless otherwise authorised. The Special Boat Service (SBS) also wear the green Commando beret but with their own unique cap badge consisting of a sword with two blue waved lines with the words "by strength and guile"
Green beret
493423#17
Among a few well-known historic examples are the Scottish soldiers, who wore the blue bonnet in the 17th and 18th centuries, the "Volontaires Cantabres", a French force raised in the Basque country in the 1740s to the 1760s, who also wore a blue beret, and the Carlist rebels, with their red berets, in 1830s Spain. In World War Two, British officer Bernard Montgomery ("Monty") took to wearing a black beret given to him by a corporal, and it became his trademark. In the 1950s the U.S. Army's newly conceived Special Forces units began to wear a green beret as headgear, following the custom of the British Royal Marines, which was officially adopted in 1961 with such units becoming known as the "Green Berets", and additional specialised forces in the Army, U.S. Air Force and other services also adopted berets as distinctive headgear.
Beret