Although One Piece is about pirates and their adventures, the Straw Hat has been a symbol since the very beginning of the series, and it is exceptionally important in the story, as all fans know. The iconic Straw Hat, which inspired Luffy's nickname and the name of his crew, originally belonged to Gol D. Roger, then Shanks, and is now in Luffy's possession. But, in this article, we will go back in time a little by discovering how Shanks came into possession of the iconic hat.

It is known that Shanks received the iconic Straw Hat from Gol D. Roger when he was at least eight years old, but the exact circumstances are unknown. We know that Roger accidentally found Shanks on his own ship and then decided to take care of him, and we also know that Shanks had a very close bond with Roger, who was a father figure to him. The Straw Hat was Roger's treasure, and he likely gave it to Shanks because he saw something in him and could trust him, just as Shanks eventually gave it to Luffy because he loved and cared for him.

The rest of this article will focus on the legendary Straw Hat, which originally belonged to Gol D. Roger and is currently a major symbol in One Piece history. The Straw Hat is an incredibly important part of the story, and there's no doubt it deserves all the attention we can give it, which is why it inspired this article. We'll reveal all the known details. As for spoilers, there will be some, of course, but most of them will be related to Shanks's personal story, so be careful only if you don't know it entirely.

Shanks received Roger's straw hat as a gift, but it is unclear why Rogers gave it to him.

This story is both the story of Shanks and the story of the iconic Straw Hat, which is an incredibly important part of One Piece's story. Shanks is one of the best and most important characters in the series, while the Straw Hat is a symbol that has been a part of the story since the first episode when it was identified as part of Luffy's story.

Shanks and the hat are closely related to Luffy, which is why we'll be talking about them in this article. Let's start with the hat.

Roger's Straw Hat is over 50 years old and was already accompanying the future Pirate King when he met Rayleigh and made him his second-in-command. He then passed it on to Shanks, which we'll discuss later, and it became his trademark while he was still part of Roger's pirate crew. He would later pass it on to little Luffy in Foosha Village as a reminder of his promise to assemble a strong pirate crew and find One Piece with them.

Since then, Luffy has considered the Straw Hat a personal treasure, and anyone who steps on or damages it is liable to a good beating. Luffy rarely gives his Straw Hat to anyone else as a sign of trust or to protect it during serious battles. Nami and Usopp belong to the illustrious group of people who can wear the hat themselves for a short time.

As you can see, the iconic Straw Hat has a rich history, and with Luffy's adventures, its story has become even richer. But, as we said, the period during which Luffy owned the hat will not be the topic here, as we will go back to the time when Shanks owned the hat. So, let's take a look at Shanks's history.

Shanks was born on an island in the West Blue, but little is known about his personal past, as his story essentially begins with Gol D. Roger. When he was one year old, the Roger Pirates found him in a chest in God Valley, so they took him in and he became an apprentice. More than twenty-eight years before the beginning of the story, he befriended Buggy, who was also an apprentice to the crew.

The two often argued, and Rayleigh often separated them. At this time, as we have seen, Shanks was already wearing Roger's hat, so we can assume that he received it quite early; we know that he had it at the age of nine, so we can assume that Roger gave it to him before that, so he was eight years old, or even younger, when he actually received it.

From the way Shanks treated it and how he carried it with him until he gave it to Luffy, we can assume that he respected the hat greatly and held it dear, as it was a gift from Roger, an influential person in Shanks' life. What does this mean for our story here?

This shows that the hat has a lot of emotional value for the characters who wear it. Roger was seen wearing it when he first met Rayleigh, and it was, for a time, his trademark. The reason he gave it to Shanks is unknown, but based on how Shanks compared giving the hat to Luffy to when Roger gave it to him, it is assumed that Shanks earned it because of his traits and personality.

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Shanks gave the hat to Luffy as a symbol of motivation when Luffy promised he would become the next Pirate King. So it's entirely possible that Shanks said something similar to Roger, and Roger, appreciating such sincerity from a child, decided to give the hat to Shanks as a symbol of motivation.

This, of course, makes a lot of sense as Shanks actually gave up on his dream of succeeding Roger, meaning that before Roger's execution, this had been his main goal; it's also what caused the big rift between Shanks and Buggy the Clown.

So, if we combine all these facts, we can form a pretty solid theory about this. We don't know if it's true, to be honest, because Oda never revealed the circumstances we're talking about, but it could very well be that Rogers decided to give his hat to Shanks because Shanks told him something similar to what Luffy said to Shanks later, which prompted Shanks to give the hat to Luffy at that moment. It's just a theory, but we think it's a pretty solid one based on what we know.