Roundheads

Roundheads was the name given to the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642-1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against Charles I of England and his supporters, the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings. The goal of the Roundhead party was to give the Parliament supreme control over executive administration.

The name derived from the group's rebellious custom of wearing their hair closely cropped (bowl-cut) round the head or flat, and there was thus an obvious contrast between them and the men of courtly fashion, who wore long ringlets.

During the war and for a time afterwards, Roundhead was a term of derision; in the New Model Army it was a punishable offence to call a fellow soldier a Roundhead. This contrasted with the term "Cavalier" to describe supporters of the Royalist cause. Cavalier also started out as a pejorative term but was fondly embraced by the Royalists.

"Roundheads" appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when the debates in Parliament in the Clergy Act 1640 were causing riots at Westminster. "They had the hair of their heads very few of them longer than their ears, whereupon it came to pass that those who usually with their cries attended at Westminster were by a nickname called Roundheads". However, there are conflicting accounts of who first used the term.

Most of the Parliamentarian leaders, including Oliver Cromwell, wore their hair long, but were known as Roundheads none the less.

Roundheads in The Two Georges
In the late 20th century, some of the more fanatical members of the Sons of Liberty criminal organisation adopted the look of the English political-military faction known as Roundheads, which had killed an English king in the 17th century.