A beret ( /ˈbɛreɪ/BERR-ay or /bəˈreɪ/bə-RAY; French: [beˈʁɛ]) is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber.

Beret like headwear has been worn across Europe since pre-Roman times. Mass production began in 19th century France, Spain and Italy, countries with which it remains associated. Berets are worn as part of the uniform of many military and police units worldwide, as well as by other organizations.

Beret (from béret in French). The French word is from the Béarnais Berret "sort of flat woollen cap, worn by the local peasants". It was first mentioned 1835 in French and then 19th century in English too. This word is related to English biretta "clerical square cap", borrowed itself from Spanish birrete of the same etymology. Most specialists think it is a diminutive form biretum of the Low Latin birrum, which means "sort of short cloak with a hood" ["cuculla brevis"], that is from Gaulish birros "short". This word is a close relative to Old Irish berr "short", Welsh byr, Breton berr "short", all thought to be from Proto-Celtic *birro-. The Greek word βίρρος is borrowed from Latin.

Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin (2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is well known by fans for his distinctive tenor voice. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

Chris Martin was born in Exeter, Devon and is the eldest of five children. His father, Anthony Martin, is a retired accountant, and his mother, Alison Martin, is a music teacher. Martin started his education at the pre-preparatory Hylton School and then went on to preparatory Exeter Cathedral School. It was at the prep school that Martin formed his first band, The Rocking Honkies, with Nick Repton & Iwan Gronow. Their debut performance was met with boos from the crowd. After Exeter Cathedral, Martin boarded at Sherborne School, a boys' independent school in Dorset. He also met future Coldplay manager Phil Harvey at the school. Martin continued his studies at University College London, staying at Ramsay Hall where he read Ancient World Studies and graduated with First Class honours in Greek and Latin. It is here he met future Coldplay bandmates Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman.