This song was written by Australian comedian and World War II veteran, George Wallace, and published by J Albert & Son, Sydney in 1942. British singer and comedian, Jenny Howard, had proposed to her fellow cast members at the Melbourne Tivoli theatre that the Australian defence forces needed a song of their own. Wallace agreed with her and had the sheets of music and lyrics completed by the following day.

LYRICS

There is a symbol, we love and adore it,
You see it daily wherever you go.
Long years have passed since our fathers once wore it,
What is the symbol that we should all know?

It's a brown slouch hat with the side turned up, and it means the world to me.
It’s the symbol of our Nation—the land of liberty.
And as soldiers they wear it, how proudly they bear it, for all the world to see.
Just a brown slouch hat with the side turned up, heading straight for victory.

Don't you thrill as young Bill passes by?
Don't you beam at the gleam in his eye?
Head erect, shoulders square, tunic spic and span,
Every inch a soldier and every inch a man.

As they swing down the street, aren't they grand?
Three abreast to the beat of the band,
But what do we remember when the boys have passed along?
Marching by so brave and strong.

Just a brown slouch hat with the side turned up, and it means the world to me.
It’s the symbol of our Nation—the land of liberty.
And as soldiers they wear it, how proudly they bear it, for all the world to see.
Just a brown slouch hat with the side turned up, heading straight for victory.

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