Why do Australians wear cork hats?

Australians don’t wear cork hats. The Australian cork hat stereotype has a basis in truth, though – Australians do wear hats with veils to keep flies off their face.

Seriously? You want to know why Australians wear cork hats? You do know that Australia isn’t one great sub-Crocodile Dundee pastiche, right?

Well, to ease your thirst for knowledge, rest assured that Australians don’t wear cork hats. There are many bush or outback Australian stereotypes that are true – the Aussie bloke may wear a blue singlet, use swearing as punctuation and walk around in thongs. But the Australian cork hat thing? Nah.

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This is not to say that at some point, some Australians may have worn hats with corks dangling down from them. There’s probably something behind the Australian cork hat stereotype.

Tick off 9 Australian bucket list experiences

Take Blue Mountains day tour from Sydney – with kangaroo-feeding at a wildlife park, Scenic World tickets and a Parramatta River cruise.
Snorkel or dive on the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns.
Do Australia’s most spectacular drive on a Great Ocean Road day tour from Melbourne.
Drive along the beach on a 4WD day tour of Fraser Island, the world’s biggest sand island.
Have a dune-top barbecue dinner and stargazing session in the shadow of Uluru.
See penguins on Phillip Island – and more native wildlife at the Moonlit Sanctuary – on a day trip from Melbourne.
Go snorkelling, sandboarding and kayaking on Moreton Island from Brisbane.
Meet gloriously cute quokkas on Rottnest Island near Perth with a ferry and bike hire package.
Kayak with dolphins in Byron Bay.

Why wear Australian cork hats?

The theory behind cork hats is that the dangling corks go some way to keeping flies off your face. Visitors from other parts of the world might not understand why this is necessary, but it is. In the United Kingdom, one buzzing fly might be mildly annoying. In an Australian outback destination such as Uluru, Kings Canyon, Lake Eyre or Balladonia, seemingly zillions of flies can descend on you. On a hot day, it is particularly hellish – no amount of frantic arm-waving seems to shake them off.

It’s not much better in bush areas, either. Australian flies are both numerous and insatiable. In the land of goon and schooners, steps are required to fend off flies. But do cork hats work?

Australian cork hat or hats with veils?

A cork hat could be one of these steps. But they’re not worn for two reasons. The first is that putting one together takes an awful lot of effort. The second is that a normal wide-brimmed hat with a mesh veil attached does the job more effectively. Some Australians in bush and outback areas will wear a hat with a veil if the flies are particularly bad. Although, more likely, they’ll simply prefer to take pride in not being bothered by the flies.