A Feather in Your Cap

A custom found across several unrelated cultures, all landing on the same image. In parts of Hungary, a warrior who killed an enemy in battle earned the right to add a feather to his cap, a custom documented in Richard Hansard's 1599 account of the country. Similar traditions existed among Native American warriors marking bravery, and among Scottish and Welsh Highland hunters, who added a feather from their first big kill to their hat as a mark of skill. The figurative English sense, an achievement worth being proud of, was established by the early 18th century, first clearly attested in 1734.