The tradition of giving white feathers to those who don’t join the military dates back centuries, originating from cockfighting. During WWI, the Order of the White Feather encouraged women to shame men out of uniform. However, some men were mistakenly given feathers, and conscientious objectors were proud to receive them. The peace movement adopted the symbol in the 1930s and 1940s. “Showing the white feather” means extreme cowardice in the civilian world.
The tradition of giving white feathers to people who don’t join the military, despite looking eligible, is hundreds of years old. The idea comes from the sport of cockfighting, where roosters with a single white tail feather are believed to be poor fighters. The feather also indicates that a bird is a mongrel, rather than a thoroughbred. When the practice of distributing such feathers was widespread, receiving a feather was supposed to indicate that someone was a coward.
Britain is most closely associated with the White Feather convention, and this became especially true during the First World War. In 1914, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald founded the Order of the White Feather and encouraged women to distribute such feathers to men out of uniform. This practice spread to Australia and the United States and was designed to shame men who weren’t fighting. Some men heavily criticized the practice, arguing that since women were ineligible to serve, it was unreasonable for them to become involved in military politics.
In Britain especially, someone can be said to “show the white feather” when they engage in an act of extreme cowardice. This concept is used in the civilian world, not just the military, even if the intent of the criticism is the same.
The politics of the white feather is complex. In some cases, a man may not be wearing a uniform because he is serving his country than he is in another capacity. Civil servants, doctors, and people of similar ability were sometimes mistakenly given white feathers by people who didn’t understand why they weren’t in uniform. In Britain, people in this position were sometimes given badges to wear, so they weren’t “feathered” as they went about their daily business. In other cases, a man may have been rejected for service due to ill health, and the feather would have further distressed and shamed him.
However, another group of men were actually proud of being given white feathers. World War I saw an explosion of conscientious objectors, sometimes from within the military itself. These pacifists could not in good conscience support the war, and consequently received numerous feathers. Several well-known leaders within the movement were said to be happy to receive “enough feathers to make a fan.” The peace movement took the idea one step further in the 1930s and 1940s by actively adopting it as a symbol, although it is unrelated to the white dove of peace.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
