The article attempts to explain how and why during the French Revolution the Phrygian red hat was associated with the ancient tradition of the liberty hat, becoming a universal symbol for freedom. It is argued that the great strenght and the extraordinary vitality of this symbol derived from a coalescence and condensation of different messages in a specific political context. Symbols then, are seen here not as the recipient of mysterious and hidden meanings nor as a superflous superstructure hiding «real» interests and passions but as part of a conflictive process, a battle for giving meaning to the world, a hegemonic fight for the control of common sense.[...]