Within the Roman Catholic Church , '' Red Hat'' refers to the appointment of a Cardinal , a senior ''Prince of the Church'' who is a member of the electoral college that chooses the Pope . A person on being appointed to the cardinalate is said to have received the ''red hat'' or cardinal's Biretta .
--- Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution currently distributed by Red Hat and targeted toward the business market.
In Tibetan Buddhism, three of the four main schools, viz Nyingma , Kagyu , and Sakya , are referred to as Red Hat Sects, in contradistinction to the fourth school, which is referred to as the Yellow Hat Sect .
---More specifically, the successors to the first Shamarpa , a Kagyu lama, are known as the Red Hat lamas.
The Red Hat Society, Inc. is a women's organization whose full members, who must be over 50 years old, wear red hats and purple dresses. Members are often called "Red Hatters."
