Editing Sash (section)

== Military use ==
=== Old Europe ===
[[File:1801 Antoine-Jean Gros - Bonaparte on the Bridge at Arcole.jpg|thumb|''[[Bonaparte at the Pont d'Arcole]]'', a 1796 portrait of [[Napoleon]] by [[Antoine-Jean Gros]] depicting him wearing a sash]]

In the mid-and late-16th century waist and shoulder sashes came up as a mark of (high) military rank or to show personal affection to a political party or nation. During the [[Thirty Years' War]] the distinctive sash colour of the [[House of Habsburg]] was red while their French opponents wore white or blue sashes and the Swedish voted for blue sashes.

Beginning from the end of the 17th century, commissioned officers in the [[British Army]] wore waist sashes of crimson silk. The original officer's sash was six inches wide by eighty-eight inches long with a ten-inch (gold or silver) fringe. It was large enough to form a hammock stretcher to carry a wounded officer. From about 1730 to 1768, the officer's sash was worn [[Baldric|baudericke]] wise, i.e. from the right shoulder to the left hip, and afterwards around the waist again.<ref>Carl Franklin: ''British Army Uniforms of the American Revolution 1751-1783'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-84884-690-6}}, p. 356, p. 371,</ref>

Sergeants were permitted sashes of crimson wool, with a single stripe of facing colour following the clothing regulations of 1727. Whereas it remained vague whether the sash was to be worn over the shoulder or around the waist, it was clarified in 1747 that sergeants had to wear their sashes around the waist. From 1768, the sergeant's waist sash had one (until 1825) resp. three (until 1845) stripes of facing colour; in regiments with red or purple facings the sergeant's sash had white stripes or remained plain crimson.<ref>{{Cite web|title=British Army Sergeant's Sash, 1727-1826|url=https://www.militaryheritage.com/sash1.htm|access-date=June 29, 2022|website=www.militaryheritage.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>(Major) R. (Robert) Money Barnes, ''Military uniforms of Britain & the Empire: 1742 to the present time'', London: Seeley Service & Co, 1960, p. 52.</ref>

Until 1914 waist-sashes in distinctive national colours were worn as a peace-time mark of rank by officers of the Imperial German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies, amongst others.

The [[barrel sash]] is a type of belt traditionally worn by [[hussars]].

=== Modern Europe ===
Since then sashes have been part of formal military attire (compare the sword belt known as a [[baldric]], and the [[cummerbund]]). Thus several other modern armies retain waist-sashes for wear by officers in ceremonial uniforms. These include the armies of Norway (crimson sashes), Sweden (yellow and blue), Greece (light blue and white), the Netherlands (orange), Portugal (crimson) and Spain (red and gold for generals, light blue for general staff and crimson for infantry officers).<ref>Rinaldo D'Ami, "World Uniforms in Colour - the European Nations", {{ISBN|0-85059-031-0}}</ref>

The Spanish  [[Regulares]] (infantry descended from colonial regiments formerly recruited in [[Spanish Morocco]]) retain their historic waist-sashes for all ranks in colours that vary according to the unit.<ref>José Bueno, Ejército Español, Uniformes Contemporáneos",{{ISBN|84-7140-186-X}}</ref>

Sashes are a distinctive feature of some regiments of the modern French Army for parade dress. They are worn around the waist in the old Algerian or Zouave style ("ceinture de laine"). Traditionally these sashes were more than {{cvt|4|m}} in length and {{cvt|40|cm}} in width. In the historic [[Army of Africa (France)|French Army of Africa]], sashes were worn around the waist in either blue for European or red for indigenous troops.<ref>André Jouineau, "The French Army in 1914", pages 45-63, {{ISBN|978-2-352-50104-6}}</ref>

=== (British) Commonwealth of Nations ===
The modern [[British Army]] retains a scarlet sash for wear in certain orders of dress by sergeants and above serving in [[infantry]] [[regiment]]s, over the right shoulder to the left hip. A similar crimson silk net sash is worn around the waist by officers of the [[Foot Guards]] in scarlet full dress and officers of line infantry in dark blue "Number 1" dress. The same practice is followed in some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] armies.

The present-day armies of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] both make extensive use of waist-sashes for ceremonial wear. The colours vary widely according to regiment or branch and match those of the turbans where worn. Typically two or more colours are incorporated in the sash, in vertical stripes. One end hangs loose at the side and may have an ornamental fringe. The practice of wearing distinctive regimental sashes or cummerbunds goes back to the late nineteenth century.<ref>John Gaylor, "Sons of John Company - the Indian and Pakistan Armies", {{ISBN|0-946771-98-7}}</ref>

Cross-belts resembling sashes are worn by drum majors in the Dutch, British and some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] armies. These carry scrolls bearing the names of battle honours.

=== United States of America ===
[[File:George Washington at Princeton-PAFA.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Washington at Princeton]]'' by [[Charles Wilson Peale]] (1779)]]
In the United States, [[George Washington]], who served as [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]] and later served as the first [[President of the United States]], was noted for wearing a blue ribbed sash, similar to that of the British [[Order of the Garter]], early in the war, as he had in 1775 prescribed the use of green, pink, and blue sashes to identify aides de camp, brigade-majors, brigadiers general, majors general, and the commander in chief in the absence of formal uniforms. He later gave up the sash as "unrepublican" and "pretentious for all but the highest-ranking aristocracy", according to historians. Washington is seen wearing the sash in [[Charles Wilson Peale]]'s 1779 painting ''[[Washington at Princeton]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Keller|first=Jared|date=November 16, 2016|title=The Strange Case of George Washington's Disappearing Sash|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/strange-case-george-washingtons-disappearing-sash-180961105/|access-date=September 4, 2020|website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Rogers|first=James|date=August 29, 2017|title=George Washington's 'rediscovered' Revolutionary War sash on display|url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/george-washingtons-rediscovered-revolutionary-war-sash-on-display|access-date=September 4, 2020|website=[[Fox News]]|publisher=[[21st Century Fox]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

Sashes continued to be used in the [[United States Army]] for sergeants and officers. In 1821 the red sashes (crimson for officers) were limited to [[first sergeant]]s and above. In 1872 the sashes were abolished by all ranks but generals continued to wear their buff silk sashes in full dress until 1917. Waist sashes (in combination with a sabre) in the old style are still worn by the officers and senior NCOs of the [[Commander-in-Chief's Guard (3rd Infantry Regiment)|Commander-in-Chief's Guard]] of the [[3rd Infantry Regiment (United States)|3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)]] as well by the West Point Band drum major along with the West Point cadet officers.<ref>Fredrick Todd, "Cadet Gray: A pictorial history of life at West Point as seen through its uniforms", Sterling Publishing 1955, p. 40</ref><ref>West Point Band</ref> The drum major of the [[Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps]] also still wears a waist sash, but no sidearms.

At the time of the [[American Civil War]] (1861–65) generals of the regular US Army wore silk sashes in buff. Officers were authorized silk sashes in crimson (medical officers: [[emerald]]) while red woollen sashes were entitled to senior non-commissioned officers (''Army Regulations of 1861''). In the [[Confederate Army]] sashes were worn by all sergeant ranks and officers. The colour indicated the corps or status of the wearer. For example: yellow for cavalry, burgundy for infantry, black for chaplains, red for sergeants, green or blue for medics, and grey or cream for general officers.

=== Myanmar ===
Since 1948, Burmese presidents have worn the traditional Burmese sash worn by ancient Burmese kings, which resembles a Western-style sash, at state ceremonies.
What makes Myanmar sash different from Western countries is that the sash is made of gold, and is called the golden sash.

=== Japan ===
Japanese officers continued the practice in full dress uniform until 1940.<ref>Ritta Nakanishi, "Japanese Military Uniforms 1930-1945, 1991 Dai Nippon Kaiga</ref>