{{Short description|Armband that is part of a uniform}} {{for|people with the name|Brassard (surname)}} {{for|non-uniform uses|Armband}} {{redirect|Armlet|the jewelry|arm ring}}
{{more footnotes|date=May 2012}}
[[File:Don Juan d'Austria 1.JPG|thumb|upright|John of Austria wearing a Spanish Army brassard with a cockade.| alt= A tall brown-haired man in armour and a royal attire posing for a painting. He is standing under a luxurious green drapery and wearing a red brassard on his right arm. An attentive lion is lying behind him at his feet. His helmet and gloves are lying on a table beside him while his shield is resting on the floor in front of the table. ]]
A '''brassard''' or '''armlet''' is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank badges or other insignia are carried on it instead of being stitched into the actual clothing. The brassard, when spread out, may be roughly rectangular in shape, where it is worn merely around the arm; it may also be a roughly triangular shape, in which case the brassard is also attached to a shoulder strap. The term is originally French, deriving from ''bras'' meaning "arm".
Brassards are also used with the uniforms of organizations which are not military, but which are influenced by and styled upon the military, such as police, emergency services, volunteer services, or militaristic societies and political parties.
== Use == A brassard is often used: * to temporarily attach insignia, such as rank, to clothing not normally bearing insignia (such as civilian clothing or a military mechanic's coveralls); For example, when French police officers work in plainclothes or are off-duty and carrying a firearm, they must wear a red 'Police' brassard.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thelocal.fr/20151119/france-moves-to-arm-police |title=France to allow off-duty police to carry arms |work=The Local |location=France |publisher=The Local Europe AB |date=2015-11-19 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212194116/http://www.thelocal.fr/20151119/france-moves-to-arm-police |archivedate=2020-12-12 |accessdate=2021-02-12 |quote=However off-duty officers will only be allowed to carry their guns under certain conditions, firstly they must have the red "Police" armband that is normally worn by plain clothes offices to avoid confusion.}}</ref> * to temporarily attach insignia to a uniform for a limited time, such as the insignia for an "officer of the day" or "duty officer"; or for uniforms expected to have a high turnover of either wearer or insignia borne, such as those of cadets or members of other youth organizations. Brassards worn by Red Cross personnel fall under this category. Brassards are often used in this manner by military police, the brassard being both a badge of authority and identification.
Brassard (also "brassart" or "brasset") also refers to pieces of armour worn to cover the entire arm (encompassing vambrace, rerebrace, and possibly a couter).
<gallery mode="packed"> File:British military police officer looks across Berlin Wall with field glasses, 1984.jpg|Armlet-wearing soldier of the British Royal Military Police in 1984. File:Haitian police with rice bag and UN brassard.jpg|A Haitian policeman with a United Nations brassard, 2008. File:Tag der polnischen Streikräfte (48616677747).jpg|Soldier of the Polish Military Gendarmerie (right) displaying brassard, 2019. File:Police handling traffic in Kaesong 20080926 3.jpg|North Korean traffic controller wearing armlet, 2008. File:JSA south korea military police.jpg|Soldier of the South Korean Military Police wearing brassard, 2007. File:Stephen Dalton cadets.jpg|Cadets of the British Armed Forces wear a brassard on the right arm to display unit identity and merit badges. </gallery>
==See also== *Armband *Arm ring *Black armband
==References== {{Reflist}} {{commons category|Brassards}} * {{cite book|last=Rosignoli|first=Guido|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Insignia of the 20th Century|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc00rosi|url-access=limited|publisher=Chartwell Books Inc|location=New Jersey|year=1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc00rosi/page/n70 69]|isbn=1-55521-085-6}}
Category:Military insignia Category:Military uniforms Category:Western plate armour Category:Armbands