Knights of Columbus Hats

The Knights of Columbus reported 2.1 million members, 92,000 new members, $190 million donated and 47 million volunteer hours in 2023. Councils run pancake breakfasts, blood drives and the Tootsie Roll Drive, the order's largest charitable event, with volunteers in bright yellow aprons. The uniform is its own running joke. The Fourth Degree regalia of plumed chapeau, tuxedo, cape and ceremonial sword stood unchanged from 1940 until the board voted in 2017 for a blue blazer, tie and black beret, with the swords staying. The new uniform took effect on July 1, 2019, and the old regalia was grandfathered on a limited basis, which is the feather joke in a nutshell. These Knights of Columbus hats are written in the order's own voice. Badges name the order and the Fourth Degree, then the Grand Knight and the motto Vivat Jesus. The longer designs make fun of the feathers that were grandfathered in, the steed that is a Buick, the sword carried next to a box of Tootsie Rolls, the folding table and the coffee urn, and a council meeting that starts at 7 with beer at 7:05. What sells to Knights today is official and vintage gear, like convention rope hats and old chapeaux, so these jokes are the in-group's own. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat. Wear one to the council hall, or give one to the Sir Knight who still misses the cape.