Aiguillette

For the decorative tip to a lace or cord worn as jewellery in the sixteenth century, see Aiguillette (ornament).
Commissioned officers of the Household Cavalry in full dress wearing aiguillettes

An aiguillette (from French "aiguillette", small needle) is an ornamental braided cord most often worn on uniforms, but may also be observed on other costumes such as academic dress, where it will denote an honour. Originally, the word "aiguillette" referred to the lacing used to fasten plate armor together. As such, a knot or loop arrangement was used which sometimes hung from the shoulder.

Aiguillettes should not be confused with lanyards, which are cords also worn from the shoulder (or around the neck), but do not have the pointed aiguillette tips (see Aiguillette (ornament)) and are usually of fibre rather than gold or silver wire, and often not braided.

Theories of introduction

A series of fanciful legends has developed about the origin of aiguillettes. One account relates that when certain European troops behaved reprehensibly on the field of battle, their commander decided to hang certain of them. The troops asked to be given a chance to redeem themselves and started wearing a rope and spike about their shoulders with the promise that if they ever behaved badly again, they were ready to be hanged on the spot. It is further related that these troops covered themselves with glory thereafter. Another tale recounts that aiguillettes originated with cord and pencil worn by generals and staff officers for writing dispatches. Still another account has it that the idea is French in origin and goes back to the use of horses in battle. A general's aide-de-camp carried a loop of cord to tie up the general's horse during dismount. As a practical approach, the aides would loop the cord around the epaulette flap on the shoulder of their tunic. All such accounts have no known basis in fact.

Further, it has been argued by gunners that the aiguillette originates with the practice of carrying a pick on a shoulder rope, with which a gun captain would clear the touch-hole of a fouled cannon. Musketeer arguments suggest that the "tags" on the aiguillette are representations of wooden charge carriers. Another discounted gunner-related origin suggests that the "tag" represents a spike carried by the gun captain with which he would disable the gun if capture was imminent. Finally it has been suggested that the aiguillettes derive from the shoulder decoration worn by standard bearers in the French Imperial (Grande) Army under Napoleon. The standards were topped by the imperial eagle, or "aigle" in French. The standard bearers were known as "aiglettes" to their comrades-in-arms.[1]

A more probable explanation is that the aiguillette derived from the laces used to secure plates of armor together —the breast- and back-plates would be attached on one side with short loops of cord acting as a hinge, and on the other by a longer and more ornate tied one,to support the arm defences.[2] The ensuing knots would hang down the shoulder. (As with combat boots, the longer the lace, the less the need to undo the entire lace.) As armour became more ornamental and less practical, so too did the ties. This would also explain the aiguillettes of varying levels of complexity in the uniforms of the Household Cavalry (see picture above), as opposed to other "unarmored" troops.

Australia

Aiguillettes distinguish Army officers of General rank such as the Chief of Army, Deputy Chief of Army, members of the Chief of Army’s Senior Advisory Committee, Military Attaché and Aide-de-camp. Most senior officers wear the Aiguillette on the right shoulder, whilst Military Attaché and Aide-de-camp wear the Aiguillette on the left. Royal Aiguillettes are of plain gold, naval aiguillettes are of blue and gold, army aiguillettes are of red and gold, air force aiguillettes of light blue and gold.

The Governor-General of Australia, as the Commander in Chief of the Australian Defence Force, is entitled to wear a uniform on which an Aiguillette made of platinum is worn.[3]

Canada

Aiguillettes with shoulder boards are worn by military aides-de-camp to the Governor General. The aiguillette is gold with brass tags and worn on the right shoulder. Aides-de-camp to the provincial lieutenant governors wear the same gold-pattern aiguilette on the right shoulder, but do not wear shoulder boards. Aiguillettes are worn on the left shoulder by aides-de-camp to generals, flag officers and diplomats. Aides-de-camp assigned to the Sovereign or officers holding a royal appointment wear the aiguillette on the right shoulder. Obsolete-style gold-braid aiguilettes mixed with army crimson, navy blue, or air force blue may also still be worn by aides-de-camp to lieutenant governors, flag and general officers and diplomats who still have them.

France

Republican Guard wearing a gold-wire aiguillette on the left shoulder

The aiguillettes are worn only with the dress uniform. There are several types of aiguillettes in the French military:

Aiguillettes should not be confused with fourragères, which can be worn in the same way on the left shoulder in parade dress.

Ghana

In Ghana, aiguillettes form part of the uniform of certain branches of the police, including the customs police, and immigration police. Ordinary police officers wear white aiguillettes with dark-blue uniforms, while customs and immigration officials wear red aiguillettes with olive-green outfits. When worn, the aigullettes denote on-duty status.

Ireland

Aiguillettes are only worn by the aides-de-camp to the President and Taoiseach. The President's ADC wears it on the right shoulder, the Taoiseach's ADC on the left.

Civil Defence (Cosaint Sibhialta) personnel wear a white aiguillette on their dress uniform.

Gold aiguillettes are also worn by officers in the Defence Forces with their Mess Dress uniform. They are worn on the left hand shoulder.

Israel

In the IDF, soldiers who wear an aiguillette are mostly instructors.
List of aiguillette's colors and roles in the IDF:

IDF uniforms with azure & yellow aiguillette of the casualties & City Officers administration

In the Israeli Police, policemen mainly wear a black aiguillette, and Israeli Border Police policemen wear a Dark green aiguillette.

Russian Federation

Soldiers of Prezidentskiy polk (The Presidential Regiment), Alexander Garden, Moscow

Aiguillettes are worn by honor guard personnel. A single silver aiguillette is worn on enlisted cut uniforms of minor detachments. A single gold aiguillette is worn on officer cut uniforms of minor detachments. A double gold aiguillette is worn on officer cut uniforms of major detachments. All personnel of major detachments wear officer cut uniforms. Also, dembels (demobilized soldiers) often decorate their uniforms with makeshift aiguillettes.

Singapore

Aiguillettes are worn on the right shoulder by officers of certain appointments only. They include the:

Aiguillettes are also worn on the left shoulder by musicians of the Singapore Armed Forces Band and the Singapore Police Force Band.[4]

In Singapore, ADCs who are officers of the Singapore Armed Forces and the Singapore Civil Defence Force wear gold aiguillettes and police officers wear silver aiguillettes.

Sri Lanka

Aiguillettes of gold-wire cord are worn on the right shoulder by;

Aiguillettes of gold are worn on the right shoulder by;

Aiguillettes of black are worn on the right shoulder by;

United Kingdom

Royal Aiguillette worn by the Chief of Defence Staff and Staff Aiguillettes worn by ADCs

There are four types of aiguillette worn by the British Armed Forces.

Scottish uniform with aiguillette and epaulette

United States

US Army Service Aiguillette worn on the left arm by aides-de-camp, Army attaches, assistant Army attaches and on the right arm by aides assigned to the President, White House, First Family, foreign heads of state with the Class A Uniform and Army Service Uniform

The aiguillette is worn on the right shoulder by military aides to the President and the Vice President. It is worn on the left shoulder by military assistants to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, aides to the Service Secretaries (Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy & Secretary of the Air Force), military attachés, General Staff Corps officers, and aides to flag officers. The cord colors are gold for the Marine Corps and Army, gold and blue for the Coast Guard and Navy, and silver for the Air Force. The gold cord aiguillette is worn by the directors of the United States Marine Band, while the enlisted personnel wear aiguillettes of white cord.

A red aiguillette is worn on the left shoulder by United States Navy Recruit Division commanders, whereas a blue aiguillette is worn by Recruit Division commanders in training, Recruit Division commanders wearing these are referred colloquially as "red ropes" and "blue ropes" respectively. The U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard in Washington, D.C. wears a blue aiguillette on summer white uniforms and a white one on winter blue uniforms.

A blue aiguillette is worn on the left shoulder by cadets in charge of quarters at the United States Air Force Academy, as well as by military training leaders at technical training bases. Student airmen leaders at technical training bases (sometimes called "ropes" in reference to the aiguillette) also wear aiguillettes, with green representing the lowest level of student leadership, yellow representing the intermediate level of student leadership, and red representing the highest level of student leadership. Students wearing a white rope are commonly referred to as chapel guides, and are charged with providing social or moral support to their fellow airmen. Airmen who wear the black rope are experts in drill, choir, or ceremonies, and pride themselves on appearance and uniform wear. Airmen who wear a blue and white rope are members of the drum & bugle corps for their base. In the United States Air Force, honor guard members wear a silver aiguillette on the left shoulder.

The aiguillette should not be confused with the fourragère, which is worn by soldiers and Marines who are assigned to units that were awarded certain decorations by the French and Belgian governments for valorous conduct in the First and Second World Wars. Nor should it be confused with the Schützenschnur, a multi-weapon marksmanship decoration awarded by Germany to qualifying soldiers of NATO countries serving in Germany.

A similar, albeit thicker, device, the Blue Infantry Cord, is worn on the right shoulder by all enlisted soldiers and officers whose primary military occupational speciality is infantry.

References

  1. ↑ R.H. Rankin, Uniforms of the Sea Service, Naval Institute, 1962
  2. ↑ "Origin of Aiguillettes", All Hands 615 (April 1968): 34-35, Naval Department Library, Australia
  3. ↑ Aiguillettes - Australian Army
  4. ↑ Singapore Police Force Band
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