Editing Figurehead (object) (section)

=== Decline in use ===
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Figerhead Aris Tsamadou.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The figurehead of the {{ship|Greek brig|Aris}}, c. 1807. [[National Historical Museum, Athens]]]]

Figureheads as such died out with the military sailing ship. In addition the vogue for [[Naval ram|ram bows]] meant that there was no obvious place to mount one on battleships.<ref name=Lambert149 /> An exception was {{HMS|Rodney|1884|6}} which was the last British battleship to carry a figurehead.<ref name=Lambert149>{{cite book |title= Warrior Restoring the World's First Ironclad|last=Lambert |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Lambert|year=1987 |publisher=Conway maritime press |isbn=0-85177-411-3 |page=152}}</ref> Smaller ships of the Royal Navy continued to carry them. The last example may well have been the sloop {{HMS|Cadmus|1903|6}} launched in 1903.<ref name=sag120>{{cite book |title=Send a Gunboat The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904 |last=Preston |first=Antony |author-link=Antony Preston (naval historian)|author2=Major, John |year=2007 |publisher=Conway Maritime|isbn=978-0-85177-923-2 |page=120}}</ref> Her sister ship {{HMS|Espiegle|1900|2}} was the last to sport a figurehead until her breaking up in 1923.
Early steamships sometimes had gilt scroll-work and coats-of-arms at their bows. This practice lasted up until about [[World War I]]. The 1910 German liner {{SS|Imperator}} originally sported a large bronze figurehead of an eagle (the Imperial German symbol) standing on a globe. The few extra feet of length added by the figurehead made ''Imperator'' the longest ship in the world at the time of her launch.

It is still common practise for warships to carry [[ships' badges]], large plaques mounted on the superstructure with a unique design relating to the ship's name or role. For example, [[Type 42 destroyer]]s of the [[Royal Navy]], which are named after British cities, carry badges depicting the [[coat of arms]] of their namesake.

On smaller vessels, a ''billethead'' might be substituted. This was a smaller, nonfigural carving, most often a curl of foliage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ageofsail.net/aoshipwd.asp?sletter=billethead;iword=1|title=Terminology from the Age of Sail: Billethead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/iadwood/iadwood-20275.html|title=Billethead from Ship "Favorite"|publisher=National Gallery of Art|access-date=2012-11-14}}</ref>