When I was growing up in Los Angeles in the late 70s, the local Jewish community center hired a couple people as counselors for its kids’ programs. One of them was fairly non-religious as these things go, but who wore a yarmulke as a way of publicly declaring his membership in the Jewish community, if you will. This was back when the Holocaust and Soviet Jewry were big issues, and he felt the need to make his Judaism as public as possible.
YMMV.
Robin
Just for information’s sake, in Australia (or at least in Melbourne, where there is a reasonably large Jewish community), many Orthodox Jews wear yarmulkas in their day to day lives (at work; on the street; etc), while none from Conservative or Progessive Judaism do. At the same time, quite a few men - including those from non-orthodox backgrounds who don’t wear one regularly - will wear one to a Jewish event (even a non-religious one) as a sign of community/solidarity.
I belong to a Conservative Synagogue (fairly right-wing, but Conservative nonetheless) and the rabbis and professional staff all wear yalmukes all the time. There are a few members who do, as well. There are more who will cover their heads before eating.
The official Conservative interpretation of head-covering is that it should be done when engaged in prayer or religious study, because those activities involve God’s Name (the Tetragrammaton, the four-lettered Name that is not pronounced.) And I usually do; however, if I am visiting at a Reform Congregation that does not use head-coverings, then I follow their custom. Head-covering is not an Official Commandment, it’s a very ancient tradition.
You ask, how did this tradition get started? I’ll tell you…
I don’t know.
[Too bad Tevye wasn’t a Doper or he’d have found out, though he’d have meltdowns after all the CITE?s whenever he quoted Moses.]