Sun/pith helmets in the movies have often been hit or miss – and in some cases have even caused some confusion regarding fact vs. fiction. Most notably are the helmets in the 1964 epic Zulu, which featured helmet plates on the front. Because of this movie many new collectors expect that helmet plates were generally worn in all stations abroad (The helmet plate was authorized only for the so-called Mediterranean stations).
However, the 2016 production The Legend of Tarzan offered rather surprisingly good depictions of the Belgian Congo’s Force Publique. While these are technically the “villains” in this overly PC movie, which is just the latest take on the “King of the Apes,” the uniforms and helmets are actually fairly accurate.
While many South American countries adopted sun helmets that were based on the British Foreign Service Helmet and the French Model 1878 pattern sun helmet, we would be remiss to describe these as “colonial pattern” helmets – notably as many of Latin America’s nations were actually former colonies of Spain. Thus while the helmet was the high domed pattern these were worn by the fully autonomous and independent government armies and military styled police forces – not by a colonial force.