Manneken Pis gets new uniform to honour soldiers who liberated Brussels

Manneken Pis’s second uniform was presented after the first became too fragile to use. Photograph: Jennifer Rankin/The Guardian

When British forces commemorated the liberation of Brussels for the first time in 1945, they left a unique gift – a replica Welsh guards uniform for the Belgian city’s emblematic “peeing boy” statue, the Manneken Pis.

Now 81 years after the Welsh guards freed Brussels from Nazi occupation, the gift has been renewed: the Manneken Pis has a new regimental uniform, including scarlet jacket embroidered with gold lace, gleaming white belt and authentic bearskin hat.