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So I love the hats and all, especially my Chuck Yeager "secret" hat (though I still don't know what it was for (Update: now I think I know)).

And I'm not complaining or anything, but shouldn't the star be blue or something?

enter image description here

Because to military folks like General Yeager a single red star on a white background definitely means something other than a proud son of the good ole' U.S. of A.

enter image description here

Or is there some kind of secret message there too?

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    dundundun.net – Bart Dec 16 '13 at 15:36
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    You dare question the Yeager? – Nick Craver♦ Dec 16 '13 at 15:38
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    @NickCraver Gosh, no, he's one of my heroes. I might be questioning the message though ... :-) – RBarryYoung Dec 16 '13 at 15:44
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    You got the Chuck Yeager hat because you ■■■■■■■■ ■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■■ INFORMATION REDACTED CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET – Flyk Dec 16 '13 at 15:45
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    That hat really fits you. I'm just sayin' – Tim Post Dec 16 '13 at 15:51
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    @TinyTim Yeah really, right? It hits the nose almost perfectly. – RBarryYoung Dec 16 '13 at 15:54
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    Off topic: belongs on skeptics.stackexchange.com – Pekka Dec 16 '13 at 15:54
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    @Pëkka Another one for you conspiracy nuts: If Community isn't a person, how can it wear hat(s)?? – fredley Dec 16 '13 at 15:59
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about a conspiracy. – Travis J Dec 16 '13 at 16:00
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    I have clarified the title slightly for those who either are not reading the contents, or do not appreciate the somewhat whimsical nature of the Winter Bash and the Hats. – RBarryYoung Dec 16 '13 at 16:02
  • Nothing whimsical about a google result with a title implying Yeager is somehow associated with being a Soviet. Jingle bells, sleighs, and funny hats aside, that is messed up and if you had any sort of respect for the man you would not have that implication in your title. – Travis J Dec 16 '13 at 16:04
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    @TravisJ, et. al.: If you read the question carefully you will note that no such claim is made by me, nor is any conspiracy involving the great General Yeager implied by me. I am questioning whether the hat should be colored as it is because others less able to read either nuance or whimsy might infer such a claim by StackExchange. – RBarryYoung Dec 16 '13 at 16:08
  • I disagree. The title is sensationalist to try to garner attention at the expense of Yeager. You may make the claim in the post which doesn't show up directly. As shown in an answer, the image is Chinese. Moreover, the US (via Yeager) worked with China in Pakistan during the cold war to fight against Russia who was working with India. So no, he was not a "secret soviet", and SE is also not implying it. The only person who even mentioned it, was you. – Travis J Dec 16 '13 at 16:18
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    Sorry, I do whatever Leader Dearest tells me to. – Jin Dec 16 '13 at 17:16
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    Deep down, I think we all knew that eventually, the decision to go with a color-blind designer would come back to bite us. – Jaydles Dec 16 '13 at 19:32
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To directly answer your question: No, they're not trying to imply he was secretly working for the Soviets.

They're implying he was working for the Chinese.

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    See, I already had my reservations about outsourcing the hats ... – Bart Dec 16 '13 at 15:54
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    whooooooooooooooooooooooooooops. – Tim Post Dec 16 '13 at 15:55
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    Somewhat ironically, I just now earned a Chuck Yeager hat on Meta, which I can only assume came from this post. – Geobits Dec 16 '13 at 16:11
  • @GenericHolidayName Hmm, that could have something to do with it. – Tim Post Dec 16 '13 at 16:24
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    No but seriously, the man is an American hero - can we re-color the star please? – Adam Rackis Dec 16 '13 at 21:41
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    @AdamRackis Are you saying California is un-American??!?1one – SevenSidedDie Dec 17 '13 at 21:00
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    @SevenSidedDie According to many Texans, California is un-American. – Geobits Dec 17 '13 at 21:03
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    @GenericHolidayName Cool, Cascadia will take them then. – SevenSidedDie Dec 17 '13 at 21:08
  • @SevenSidedDie - yikes. I think you got me. I didn't even think of the CA flag since I'm from the correct, errr, east coast of the country :-) – Adam Rackis Dec 17 '13 at 23:03
  • Maybe we can figure out the secret to the hat. I believe I was awarded the had due to answering this post: stackoverflow.com/questions/20660131/… – Alex Dresko Dec 18 '13 at 15:22
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Everyone knows that painting something red makes it go faster.

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I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming this is one of the source images our designer worked off of:

enter image description here

If only Yeager had flown in the days of color photography. Somebody travel back in time and settle this argument for real!

(Apparently, this headgear is a tank corpsman's helmet on top of a leather aviator's cap.)

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    I have neither a color picture of a similar helmet nor a TARDIS, but the device on then-Captain Yeager's helmet in this photo appears to be the roundel of the United States Air Force, which includes not a red star but a white one. – Aaron Miller Dec 18 '13 at 18:54
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I will say, figuring out why you earned this hat might present you with a very bright opportunity. Or you could wait, all will be revealed in the end ....

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    My guess: a very quick answer? – Pekka Dec 16 '13 at 15:52
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    @Pëkka Nope. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (well, actually, sorda ...) – Tim Post Dec 16 '13 at 15:52
  • @Pëkka That's what I thought at first too. But fast answers are definitely not my forte', and I sure haven't had any today. Fast comments on the other hand ... hmmm ... – RBarryYoung Dec 16 '13 at 15:56
  • Well, it's not getting the Enlightened badge, so my alternate guess would be that it's when someone favourites your question. – Tim Stone Dec 16 '13 at 15:59
  • I am absolutely certain that it's answer-related. I got it for an answer that gained 5 upvotes and no downvotes on meta. I don't know if speed had anything to do with it. Presumably there's some sort of "the right stuff" thing going on. – Ben Barden Dec 16 '13 at 19:46
  • modification to the last - it might be off of points earned in a day or something similar. – Ben Barden Dec 16 '13 at 19:51
  • Waiting till the end is no fun! – Joe W Dec 16 '13 at 21:40
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    I'd agree with @JoeW! unleash the bots to find this out! – MikaldL Dec 17 '13 at 13:16
  • @BenBarden at least it is not about posting a question, because I have that hat on SO, and I have never asked a single question on SO so far (and I like it that way). Also my most recent (at the moment of writing) answer with 5 or more votes is from October. [It may be about editing, though] – Theraot Dec 17 '13 at 19:07
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    So basically, if we figure out Yaeger then we get Eureka? I'm pretty certain Eureka is awarded by devs. As far as I can tell, Yaeger is for outscoring the accepted answer or some such. – Manishearth Dec 17 '13 at 23:07
  • Hmmm, I think that Mr. Peanut may have it. This is something that I do all the time (edit/improve my posts, even after they're accepted). – RBarryYoung Dec 17 '13 at 23:32
  • @Mr.PeanutMonopolyMcManish Well, you figured out how one of the hats work. – Tim Post Dec 18 '13 at 6:08
  • @TinyTim Yay! So figuring out how you get the hat gets you the hat? Isn't that a bit circular? :P – Manishearth Dec 18 '13 at 8:43
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    Could it have anything to do with employing Firebug chicanery to flag a question for migration to a site that's not listed in the "migrate this question to..." dialog? (Does that even work?) – Aaron Miller Dec 18 '13 at 18:43
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    I think you have to edit your answer before the 5 minute grace period expires... – Jeff B Dec 20 '13 at 2:12
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Is somebody dragging my name through the mud? Why is he wearing my hat?

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  • You're getting old, Chuck. You forgot how to spell your name. – Geobits Dec 19 '13 at 0:07
  • @GenericHolidayName Lol, I was thinking of the bomb! – vascowhite Dec 19 '13 at 0:08
  • You can't fool us vascowhite. – user102937 Dec 19 '13 at 0:28
  • @TheGrinch Darn it! Is it because my hat doesn't fit my Landrover Mr Harvey? – vascowhite Dec 19 '13 at 0:41

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