Editing Armband

{{Short description|Piece of material worn around the arm}}
{{hatnote|You may be looking for [[Inflatable armbands]]}}
{{For|the Zimbabwean cricket protest|Black armband protest}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2008}}
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| caption1 = [[Spain|Spanish]] footballer [[Iker Casillas]] wearing a [[captain (association football)|captain]]'s armband for the [[Spain national football team|Spanish national team]].
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| caption2 = [[American football]] player [[Kevin Grady]] wearing an armband that displays the [[Adidas]] corporate logo.
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| alt3 = Two red armbands bearing swastikas, mounted on a stand
| caption3 = Uniforms associated with the [[Nazi Party]] and [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]] frequently included armbands.
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An '''armband''' is a piece of material worn around the arm. They may be worn for pure ornamentation, or to mark the wearer as belonging to group, or as insignia having a certain rank, status, [[office]] or [[role]], or being in a particular state or condition. Sprung armbands, known as [[sleeve garter]]s, have been used by men to keep overlong sleeves from dropping over the hands and thereby interfering with their use.<ref>[http://manolomen.com/2007/05/24/armband-aid/ Armband Aid « Manolo for the Men<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Armbands may also refer to [[inflatable armbands]] used to assist flotation for swimmers or for use with sphygmomanometers, in which case they are generally referred to as cuffs.<ref name='Booth1977'>{{cite journal|title=A short history of blood pressure measurement|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine|year=1977|first=J|last=Booth|volume=70|issue=11|pages=793–9|pmid=341169 |pmc=1543468|doi=10.1177/003591577707001112 }}</ref>

==Variation==
[[Bronze Age]] armbands have been found made from [[bronze]] (sometimes gilded) and [[Jet (lignite)|jet]].<ref name=green /> Some were constructed so that it would have been impossible to remove them.<ref name=green>{{cite book |title=The Celtic world |last=Aldhouse-Green |first=Miranda Jane |author-link=Miranda Aldhouse-Green  |year=1996 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-14627-5 |page=416}}</ref>

When used as part of a [[military]] [[uniform]] it is called a [[brassard]]. Uniforms serving other purposes such as to identify members of [[Club (organization)|clubs]], [[societies]] or [[team]]s may also have armbands for certain ranks or functions. An armband might identify a group [[leadership|leader]], a [[team captain]], or a person charged with controlling or organizing an event. 

Police departments in Asia use armbands for a "traffic reflection armband" or marking a type of unit.

Journalists in Asia use an armband to mark themselves, similar to a [[press badge]].  

Armbands are sometimes used to indicate [[political affiliation]]s or to identify the wearer with an [[ideology]] or [[social movement]].
[[File:Armband Diamonds.jpg|thumb|Made for the [[nizams of Hyderabad]]]]
Large corporations sponsor athletes and teams in an effort to get [[advertising]] when the athletes exhibit the corporate [[logo]] visibly.  Armbands, [[headband]]s, [[handband]]s and [[wristband]]s are common forms of such advertising.

The phrase ''to wear your heart on your [[sleeve]]'', meaning to show your feelings, to display an emotional affiliation or conviction, is supposedly related to armbands. In medieval [[Jousting|jousts]], ladies of the court were said to tie a piece of cloth — a [[scarf]] or [[kerchief]] — around the arm of their favorite [[knight]], who thus displayed his affection for the lady.{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}}

Armbands are often used to hold a smartphone or a portable music player on a wearer's arm while doing activities such as lifting weights, running, etc. A hybrid type of armband and handband combination is now also widely used by runners.

==Mourning==
{{Main|Black armband}}
In some cultures, a black armband signifies that the wearer is in [[mourning]] or wishes to identify with the commemoration of a family member, friend, comrade or team member who has died. This use is particularly common in the first meeting following the loss of a member. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] wore a black armband mourning the recent death of his mother at the time he signed the declaration of war against Japan in December 1941.<ref>Roosevelt signs declaration of war: http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/tmirhdee.html</ref> In [[association football]], <!-- and other sports? --> it is common for a team to wear black armbands in their next match after the death of a former player or manager. This may also be accompanied by a [[moment of silence]] at the start of the match.

The phrase "[[Australian history wars|black armband view of history]]" was introduced to the Australian political lexicon by conservative historian [[Geoffrey Blainey]] in 1993 to describe views of history which, he believed, posited that "much of Australian history had been a disgrace" and which focused mainly on the treatment of minority groups, especially [[Australian Aborigines|Aborigines]].<ref>[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/RP/1997-98/98rp05.htm M. McKenna, (10 November 1997), Research  Paper 5 1997-98: "Different Perspectives on Black Armband History, Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404113845/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/RP/1997-98/98rp05.htm |date=4 April 2009 }}</ref> The term was used by Prime Minister [[John Howard]], whose perspective on Australian history strongly contrasted with what he called the black armband view.<ref name="1996MenziesLecture">John Howard. [http://www.menzieslecture.org/1996.html The Liberal Tradition: The Beliefs and Values Which Guide the Federal Government] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727080235/http://www.menzieslecture.org/1996.html |date=2011-07-27 }}, 1996 Sir Robert Menzies Lecture. Sir Robert Menzies Lecture Trust. Retrieved 16 January 2010.</ref>

==Types==
* [[Arm ring]]
* [[Brassard|Brassard, or armlet]], a piece of military uniform
* [[Inflatable armbands]], flotation devices
* [[Pra Jiad]]
* [[Sleeve garter]]
* [[Tefillin]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fashion accessories]]
[[Category:Clothing in politics]]
[[Category:Armwear|band]]
[[Category:Armbands| ]]
[[Category:Insignia]]
[[Category:Men's clothing]]