Duncan Thompson's rugby league cap

View this record on the National Museum of Australia's website

Type: Caps
Date: 1922
Place: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Materials: Gold bullion braid, Gold bullion wire, Textile - non specific
Collection: Ian Thompson collection
Accession number: 2007.0067.0001

Description

A six-panel, black, maroon and blue velvet rugby league cap. "AUSTRALASIA / R / F L", flanked by a kangaroo and fern frond, is embroidered in gold-grey coloured bullion wire on the blue front panel, and "1921-22" is embroidered on top of the small blue visor. A gold-grey coloured bullion wire tassel hangs from a coiled pommel on top of the cap, and gold-grey coloured flat braid band is sewn onto the bottom edge. All the metal threads have tarnished to a dark grey-yellow colour. The inside of the cap is black fabric quilted in a light yellow thread. "DFT" is stitched inside the back of the cap in green wool. The manufacturer's label reads "FARMERS SYDNEY / The STORE for MEN".

About the collection

The Ian Thompson collection consists of a Rugby League cap attributed to Duncan Thompson in the early 1920s. The cap is made from a sequence of black, maroon and blue felt colour panels, separated by gold bullion wire embroidery. The front blue panel has the term AUSTRALASIA / R / F L embroidered upon it and flanked by an embroidered Kangaroo and Fern. "1921-1922" is embroidered on the small front visor. A gold bullion wire tassel hangs from a coiled pommel on the top of the cap and a gold bullion braid band is sewn round the bottom edge of the cap. On the inside of the cap the initials DFT are stitched in green wool at the back. Duncan Fulton Thompson was, a renowned Rugby League half-back who played for the Toowoomba Clydesdales, the North Sydney Bears, represented Queensland from 1915 to 1925 and Australia in 1919 to 1922. His achievements and contributions to rugby league as a footballer, coach and an administrator have been recognised on numerous occasions, such as the naming of the Duncan Thompson Stand at the North Sydney Oval in 1929, being honoured as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1960, and his induction into the Australia Ruby League Hall of Fame in 2005.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:23:35 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-02-23. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.