brassard

[ bras-ahrd, bruh-sahrd ]

/ ˈbræs ɑrd, brəˈsɑrd /

a decorative cloth band, often braided or tasseled, worn around the upper arm, as by military personnel to signify a particular group, regiment, etc.

Also brassart

[bras-ahrt, bruh-sahrt] /ˈbræs ɑrt, brəˈsɑrt/. a piece of plate armor for the arm.

Origin of brassard

1820–30; < French, equivalent to bras arm (see brace) + -ard -ard

So popular was the last-named corps that many fictitious members were soon arrested for bearing its brassard.

Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army |Charles Alexander Gordon
The soldier from whom his brassard was taken was considered dead.

Georges Guynemer |Henry Bordeaux
Hazard alone discovered the brassard (armlet) plot, and the fidelity of Dombrowski disclosed that of Vaysset.

History of the Commune of 1871 |P. Lissagary
One Brassard, who lived up the Murray River, seems to have been a frequent offender.

A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs |George M. Wrong

He wore the Red Cross brassard on the sleeve of his cassock and he carried the Host in a little bag of purple silk.

A Journal of Impressions in Belgium |May Sinclair

brassard

/ (ˈbræsɑːd) /

an identifying armband or badge

a piece of armour for the upper arm

C19: from French, from bras arm, from Latin brachium