Epaulette - History of The Epaulette

History of The Epaulette

Epaulettes bear some resemblance to the shoulder pteruges of ancient Roman military costumes. However their direct origin lies in the bunches of ribbons worn on the shoulders of military coats at the end of the 17th century, which were partially decorative and partially intended to prevent shoulder belts from slipping. These ribbons were tied into a knot which left the fringed end free. This established the basic design of the epaulette as it evolved through the 18th and 19th centuries.

From the 18th century on, epaulettes were used in the French and other armies to indicate rank. The rank of an officer could be determined by whether an epaulette was worn on the left shoulder, the right shoulder or on both. Later a "counter-epaulette" (with no fringe) was worn on the opposite shoulder of those who wore only a single epaulette. Epaulettes were made in silver or gold for officers, and in cloth of various colors for the enlisted men of various arms. By the early eighteenth century, epaulettes became the distinguishing feature of an officer, leading to officers of military units without epaulettes to petition their government for the right to wear epaulettes, to ensure that they would be recognized as officers. Certain cavalry specialties wore flexible metal epaulettes referred to as shoulder scales, rarely worn on the field. In Europe, some light infantry wore cloth counter-epaulettes. "Flying artillery" wore "wings", similar to an epaulette but with only a bit of fringe on the outside, which matched the shoulder seam. Heavy artillery wore small balls representing ammunition on their shoulders.

Today, epaulettes have mostly been replaced by a five-sided flap of cloth called a shoulder strap, which is sewn into the shoulder seam and the end buttoned like an epaulette.

An intermediate form in some services, such as the Russian Army, is the shoulder board, which neither has a fringe nor extends beyond the shoulder seam.

From the shoulderboard was developed the shoulder mark, a flat cloth tube that is worn over the shoulder strap and carries embroidered or pinned-on rank insignia. The advantages of this are the ability to easily change the insignia as occasions warrant.

In literature, film and political satire, dictators, particularly of unstable Third World nations, are often depicted in military dress with oversized gold epaulettes.

'Monkey handles' was a common 19th Century slang term for epaulettes that developed in British colonies of the African sub continent. British officers would often take baby monkeys as pets and the monkeys would commonly seize the epaulettes as a means of hanging on to their owner. This behaviour mimicked their holding onto parents in the wild.