liberty cap Público Deposited
1. The pilleus or Phrygian cap, shaped like half an eggshell, in ancient Rome placed on the head of an ex-slave at manumission, partly to symbolize emergence from confinement (as the chick from the eggshell), partly to conceal the ultrashort haircut which marked slave status. 2. [Iconography] The conical cap use din the 18th century to symbolize liberty (senses 3, 4). 3. Any representation of this last, as a device on coins or medals.
- Breen Encyclopedia