A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.
Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., English policeman's helmet) without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from blunt object and sword blows and arrow strikes in combat. Soldiers still wear helmets, now often made from lightweight plastic materials.
In civilian life, helmets are used for recreational activities and sports (e.g., jockeys in horse racing, American football, ice hockey, cricket, baseball, and rock climbing); dangerous work activities (e.g., construction, mining, riot police); and transportation (e.g., Motorcycle helmets and bicycle helmets). Since the 1990s, most helmets are made from resin or plastic, which may be reinforced with fibers such as aramids.
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All helmets attempt to protect the user's head by absorbing mechanical energy and protecting against penetration. Their structure and protective capacity are altered in high-energy impacts. Beside their energy-absorption capability, their volume and weight are also important issues, since higher volume and weight increase the injury risk for the user's head and neck. Anatomical helmets adapted to the inner head structure were invented by neurosurgeons at the end of the 20th century.
Helmets used for different purposes have different designs. For example, a bicycle helmet must protect against blunt impact forces from the wearer's head striking the road. A helmet designed for rock climbing must protect against heavy impact, and against objects such as small rocks and climbing equipment falling from above. Practical concerns also dictate helmet design: a bicycling helmet should be aerodynamic in shape and well ventilated, while a rock climbing helmet must be lightweight and small so that it does not interfere with climbing.
Some helmets have other protective elements attached to them, such as a face visors or goggles or a face cage, and ear plugs and other forms of protective headgear, and a communications system. Sports helmets may have an integrated metal face protector (face cage).
Types of synthetic fiber used to make some helmets:
In former times lightweight non-metallic protective materials and strong transparent materials for visors were not available. In Greece in ancient times helmets were sometimes strengthened by covering the surface with boars' tusks (= their canine teeth) laid flat.
In Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries gamekeepers, for head protection in fights against poachers, sometimes wore helmets (perhaps more describable as thick bump caps) made of straw bound together with cut bramble.[1]
See Combat helmet for a list of helmets worn in (ancient and modern) battle combat
As the coat of arms was originally designed to distinguish combatants on the battlefield or in a tournament, even while covered in armour, it is not surprising that heraldic elements were often also used for the decoration of knightly helmets, while it was also possible to use different elements than on the shield, but equally standardized.
Furthermore, it became common to use a helmet (or some other headgear, e.g. a crown or coronet) as part of the coat of arms, above the shield, a practice maintained long after helmets themselves ceased to be used. In some systems, the rank of the bearer was reflected in the model of the emblematic helmet, e.g. the metal and the number of bars in the visor, as in France. The rank can be denoted by a coronet or wreath placed on the helmet (often instead of directly above the shield).
The heraldic convention in the United Kingdom is as follows:
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Helmets Helmets] at Wikimedia Commons
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