Sir Philip Sidney wears a gorget for a portrait

A gorget originally was a steel collar designed to protect the throat. Sir Philip Sidney ( November 30, 1554 &ndash October 17, 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Age's most prominent figures In Clothing, a collar is the part of a Shirt, Dress, coat or Blouse that fastens around or frames the Neck. In Anatomy, the throat is the anterior part of the Neck, in front of the vertebral column. It was a feature of older types of armour and intended to protect against swords and other non-projectile weapons. Armour (or armor) is protective covering most commonly manufactured from metals to prevent damage from being inflicted to an individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact Later, particularly from the 18th century onwards, the gorget became primarily ornamental, serving only as a symbolic accessory on military uniforms.

Most Medieval versions of gorgets were simple neck protectors that were worn under the breastplate and backplate set. These neck plates supported the weight of the armour worn over it, and many were equipped with straps for attaching the heavier armour plates.

Later, Renaissance gorgets were not worn with a breastplate but instead were worn over the clothing. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Most gorgets of this period were beautifully etched, gilt, engraved, chased, embossed, or enamelled and probably very expensive. Gorgets were the last form of armour worn on the battlefield.

During the 18th and early 19th centuries, crescent-shaped gorgets of silver or silver gilt were worn by officers in most European armies, both as a badge of rank and an indication that they were on duty. These last survivals of armour were much smaller (usually about three to four inches in width) than their Medieval predecessors and were suspended by chains or ribbons. In the British service they carried the Royal coat of arms until 1796 and thereafter the Royal cypher. A Royal Cypher, or Royal and Imperial Cypher is the sovereign 's Monogram or the initials of their name and title usually surmounted by a crown

Colonel George Washington wore a gorget as part of his uniform in the French and Indian War, which symbolized his commission as an officer in the Virginia Regiment. George Washington (February 22 1732 December 14 1799 served as the first President of the United States of America (1789&ndash1797 and led the The French and Indian War (1754&ndash1763 was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War. An officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority The Virginia Regiment was formed in 1754 by Virginia 's Governor Robert Dinwiddie, initially as an all volunteer corps and he sent George Washington

Gorgets ceased to be worn by British army officers in 1830, and by their French counterparts 20 years later. They were still worn to a limited extent in the Imperial German Army until 1914, as a special distinction by officers of the Prussian Garde du Corps and the Queen's Cuirassier Regiment No 2. The German Army ( Deutsches Heer) was the name given the combined armed forces of the German Empire, also known as the Imperial Army ( Reichsheer) or The Garde du Corps was the personal bodyguard of the king of Prussia and after 1871 the German emperor (in German Kaiser) Cuirassiers were mounted Cavalry Soldiers equipped with Armour and Firearms first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. Officers of the Spanish infantry continued to wear gorgets with the cypher of King Alfonso XIII in full dress until the overthrow of the Monarchy in 1931. Mexican Federal army officers also wore the gorget in full dress with the badge of their branch, until 1947.

The gorget was revived as a uniform accessory during Germany's Third Reich, seeing widespread use within the German military and Nazi party organizations. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers During World War II, it continued to be used by German military and field police, which wore metal gorgets as emblems of authority. German police gorgets of this period typically were flat metal crescents with ornamental designs that were suspended by a chain worn around the neck. Following the German example, the Finnish Defence Forces still use a metal gorget as a distinguishing mark of the duty conscript of a company, and the highly prussianised Chilean army still use the German style metal gorget in parades as a mark of their own Military Police. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. A company is a Military unit, typically consisting of 75-200 Soldiers Most companies are formed of three to five Platoons although the exact number may vary By right or might

Gorget patches

A gorget patch as worn by an RAF Officer Cadet

The scarlet patches still worn on each side of the collar of the tunics of British army generals, and of senior staff officers (in red, blue, crimson, yellow, or green according to branch) are called "gorget patches" in reference to this article of armour. RAF officer cadets wear white gorget patches on their service dress and mess-dress uniforms. Officer Cadet is a rank held by military Cadets during their training to become Commissioned officers The term Officer Trainee is used interchangeably Very similar collar patches are worn by British army officer cadets at Sandhurst on the standup collars of their dark-blue "Number One" dress uniforms. These features of modern uniforms are a residual survival from the earlier practice of suspending the actual gorgets from ribbons attached to buttons on both collars of the uniform. Such buttons were often mounted on a patch of coloured cloth or gold embroidery.

Other uses

The state flag of South Carolina features a stylized criniere in its upper-left quadrant. The Flag of South Carolina is believed to have been originally designed in 1775 for use by South Carolinian troops during the American Revolutionary

The term also refers to a broad patch of metallic-looking iridescent feathers on the throats of many male hummingbirds. Iridescence is an Optical phenomenon in which Hue changes with the angle from which a surface is viewed

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