A male Smurf removing his hat in The Smurfs And The Magic Flute
A Smurf hat is a piece of clothing generally worn by all Smurfs. It is a standard woolen cap with the top part of it flopping forward (or in any preferred direction, as with Slouchy and Baker's hat), basically resembling a Phrygian cap. Male Smurfs generally wear Smurf hats because the top of their heads is bald. Female Smurfs tend to wear them simply to identify themselves as Smurfs. Most Smurfs wear white hats while Papa Smurf and Smurfwillow wear red, Grandpa Smurf and the Smurf Girls wear yellow, and Sweepy Smurf wears black. While in the cartoons and the comic books Tailor Smurf is the one who makes Smurf hats, Papa Smurf is the one who makes them as Christmas presents every year in The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, with each Smurf hat tailored specifically for its recipient.
Smurf hats can be created in different colors as well. In the 2021 TV series, episodes such as "I'm Off To The Circus!" and "The Magic Pumpkin" feature Smurfs with blue and yellow magician hats, while Brainy Smurf was seen wearing a green mathematics hat in the latter episode.
Smurf hats may also vary in appearance depending on the type of Smurf wearing it. Chef, Greedy (only in the 1980s cartoon show and "The Baby Smurf" comic book story), and Baker (in the old comic books prior to "The Finance Smurf"), who are the village chefs, wear a Smurf hat that is a variation of a chef's hat. Farmer and Nat wear a straw hat in the form of a Smurf hat, Wild wears a Smurf hat made of leaves, and Reporter Smurf who is the reporter of the village, wears a Smurf hat that is a variation of a reporter's hat.
When you fall, use your Smurf hat!
In both the cartoons and the comics, Smurfs are seldom seen without their hats, but there are some memorable occasions, such as "Gormandizing Greedy". After Greedy's house has been stripped from everything edible, Papa Smurf points at Greedy's hat. Greedy takes it off to reveal a cake he had hidden there.
Another example comes from "The Smurfette". When Greedy says "no!" after Smurfette leaves to go find another Smurf who could help her with the dam, his hat briefly comes off, revealing that Smurfs are bald.
In the shown picture from The Smurfs And The Magic Flute, one of the Smurfs doffs his hat to a nest of birds after they have successfully transferred the nest from the tree they were going to cut down for making the second magic flute onto another tree.
Purple Papa Smurf just had his top blown off.
In the comics, it's in "The Black Smurfs" that we see what a Smurf without a hat looks like. After Papa Smurf's lab explodes, we see him lying amongst the rubble going "Gnap?" because of confusion of what just happened; his hat, which was blown from his head, is seen falling down along with some debris. In another comic book story, Papa Smurf goes swimming without wearing a hat.
In the 2011 Smurfs movie, the Smurfs use their hats as parachutes to slow their descent when leaping from the window of the Winslow's' apartment building in New York City to a nearby taxicab. The Winslow child Blue wears a hospital cap in a manner similar to a Smurf hat.
Even baby Smurfs are born with a hat on their head.
In The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol, while Grouchy is being visited by the Three Smurfs Of Christmas, it is revealed that Papa Smurf tailors every Smurf hat that he gives to his little Smurfs every Christmas, making them specifically for each and every Smurf. Grouchy, who was expecting to get a hang glider, was constantly disappointed in that the only gift he got was a Smurf hat, and after Jokey's prank where he was fooled into believing Papa Smurf finally came through with a hang glider, only to have another of Jokey's "surprise" pranks pulled on him, he refused to have any further participation in Christmas. It was after the visitation by the Smurf Of Christmas Future, when Grouchy realized that the greatest Christmas present he had was that of family, he gladly received his current Christmas present of a Smurf hat and discovered that he could use it to glide his way through the air.
A real-world Smurf hat for cosplay use
Smurf hats are sold as real-world products for those who want to dress themselves up as Smurfs for Halloween or costume parties. On Global Smurfs Day, people in various cities around the world gathered to show their love for the Smurfs by dressing themselves in the manner of Smurfs, wearing blue shirts, white pants, and white Smurf hats with their faces all painted blue.