Why Did ‘Yankee Doodle’ Call a Feather In His Cap Macaroni?

A centuries-old symbol of American patriotism, the jaunty tune “Yankee Doodle” is well known by children and older generations alike. But many of us still scratch our heads at the seemingly nonsensical lyrics. In particular, why does Yankee Doodle “stick a feather in his cap" and call it macaroni? The answer lies in an over-the-top 18th-century fashion trend and a long-forgotten slang term.

In the mid-18th century, young aristocratic Englishmen would travel across Europe—especially to France and Italy. This tradition was called the Grand Tour, meant to deepen their cultural knowledge of art, fashion, cuisine and more. They returned home with eccentric high-fashion clothes, flamboyant mannerisms and then-exotic pasta dishes like macaroni. This earned them, and the fashion trend they flaunted on London streets, the nickname “macaroni”—they even formed a Macaroni Club in the 1760s.

The macaroni style (formerly spelled maccaroni) was one of extravagance and excess. Macaroni men wore colorful tight-fitting coats with waistcoats and knee-breeches, towering powdered wigs and slipper-like leather shoes featuring enormous buckles and red heels. They embellished their outfits with flashy accessories like fine embroidery and lace, topping it off with accoutrements such as watches hanging on chains and monocles. A precursor to the English dandy, macaroni men were considered worldly and sophisticated—the opposite of how British soldiers saw American colonists.

Yankee Doodle went to town A-riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap And called it macaroni.

The origin of “Yankee Doodle” is still disputed, and many variations of the tune were created. But a version containing the macaroni lyric may have been initially sung by British troops during the Seven Years' War (1756 to 1763).

The rhyme mocked American colonists (Yankees), suggesting they were such doodles (fools or simpletons) that they thought putting a feather in their hat—which they sometimes did—made them sophisticated or fashionable like macaroni men. The song also poked fun at Americans' intelligence and worldliness.

“Yankee Doodle” was still popular when the Revolutionary War began, but the macaroni trend was not. By the 1770s, macaroni had become a term of derision in England—the style clashed with an ideal of masculinity that emphasized moderation. To be macaroni, then, was to be unmanly and un-English.

British soldiers didn’t mock Americans with “Yankee Doodle” for long. After major victories in 1775 like the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill, American militias embraced the catchy tune, turning it into a song of defiance. It inevitably became an unofficial anthem for colonial forces and a constant reminder to the British of their losses.

While the macaroni fashion craze faded by the 1790s, its legacy lives on in the song.