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76-436: Armour ( Commonwealth English ) or armor ( American English ; see spelling differences ) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat , or from a potentially dangerous environment or activity (e.g. cycling, construction sites, etc.). Personal armour is used to protect soldiers and war animals . Vehicle armour

152-399: A fighting style where each incoming blow is intercepted with the boss in order to deflect it. The Normans introduced the kite shield around the 10th century, which was rounded at the top and tapered at the bottom. This gave some protection to the user's legs, without adding too much to the total weight of the shield. The kite shield predominantly features enarmes , leather straps used to grip

228-607: A gentle curve in cross section. The heater style inspired the shape of the symbolic heraldic shield that is still used today. Eventually, specialised shapes were developed such as the bouche , which had a lance rest cut into the upper corner of the lance side, to help guide it in combat or tournament. Free standing shields called pavises , which were propped up on stands, were used by medieval crossbowmen who needed protection while reloading. In time, some armoured foot knights gave up shields entirely in favour of mobility and two-handed weapons. Other knights and common soldiers adopted

304-543: A little more difficult. The scutum originally had an oval shape, but gradually the curved tops and sides were cut to produce the familiar rectangular shape most commonly seen in the early Imperial legions. Famously, the Romans used their shields to create a tortoise-like formation called a testudo in which entire groups of soldiers would be enclosed in an armoured box to provide protection against missiles. Many ancient shield designs featured incuts of one sort or another. This

380-565: A machine gun. During the First World War, the stalemate of trench warfare during on the Western Front spurred the development of the tank . It was envisioned as an armoured machine that could advance under fire from enemy rifles and machine guns, and respond with its own heavy guns. It used caterpillar tracks to cross ground broken up by shellfire and trenches. With the development of effective anti-aircraft artillery in

456-447: A metal boss, rim or banding. They were carried by foot soldiers, knights and cavalry. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, bilabial or scalloped. Sometimes they took on the form of kites or flatirons, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eye-hole, to look through when used with combat. The shield was held by a central grip or by straps with some going over or around

532-412: A rectangular "tower" shield. These shields were made primarily from a wicker frame and then reinforced with leather. Covering the body from head to foot, the figure-of-eight and tower shield offered most of the warrior's body a good deal of protection in hand-to-hand combat. The Ancient Greek hoplites used a round, bowl-shaped wooden shield that was reinforced with bronze and called an aspis . The aspis

608-759: A single ox hide supported by a wooden spine. This was used in combination with a short spear ( iklwa ) and/or club . Other African shields include Glagwa from Cameroon or Nguba from Congo . Shields for protection from armed attack are still used by many police forces around the world. These modern shields are usually intended for two broadly distinct purposes. The first type, riot shields , are used for riot control and can be made from metal or polymers such as polycarbonate Lexan or Makrolon or boPET Mylar . These typically offer protection from relatively large and low velocity projectiles, such as rocks and bottles, as well as blows from fists or clubs. Synthetic riot shields are normally transparent, allowing full use of

684-432: A state of flux. Many ironclads were built to make use of the ram or the torpedo , which a number of naval designers considered the crucial weapons of naval combat. There is no clear end to the ironclad period, but towards the end of the 1890s the term ironclad dropped out of use. New ships were increasingly constructed to a standard pattern and designated battleships or armoured cruisers . Armoured trains saw use from

760-534: A weapon and so on. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilisations, shields were made of wood, animal hide, woven reeds or wicker . In classical antiquity, the Barbarian Invasions and the Middle Ages , they were normally constructed of poplar tree, lime or another split-resistant timber, covered in some instances with a material such as leather or rawhide and often reinforced with

836-559: Is called barding (also spelled bard or barb ) especially when used by European knights . During the late Middle Ages as armour protection for knights became more effective, their mounts became targets. This vulnerability was exploited by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn in the 14th century, when horses were killed by the infantry, and for the English at the Battle of Crécy in

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912-470: Is in the process of developing) its own standards of usage, often under the influence of local languages. These dialects are sometimes referred to as New Englishes (McArthur, p. 36); most of them inherited non-rhoticity from Southern British English. Several dialects of West African English exist, with a lot of regional variation and some influence from indigenous languages. West African English tends to be syllable-timed , and its phoneme inventory

988-544: Is increasingly being used in the home as the first language. Small communities of native English speakers can be found in Zimbabwe , Botswana , and Namibia ; the dialects spoken are similar to native South African English . Prior to Togo 's admission at the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting , Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey said that he expected Commonwealth membership to provide opportunities for Togolese citizens to learn English , and remarked that

1064-404: Is limited to kevlar or steel (either single layer or as spaced armour ) protecting particularly vital areas from the effects of nearby impacts. Since ships cannot carry enough armour to completely protect against anti-ship missiles , they depend more on defensive weapons destroying incoming missiles, or causing them to miss by confusing their guidance systems with electronic warfare . Although

1140-461: Is much simpler than that of Received Pronunciation ; this sometimes affects mutual intelligibility with native varieties of English. A distinctive North African English , often with significant influences from Bantu languages such as Swahili , is spoken in countries such as Kenya or Tanzania , particularly in Nairobi and other cities where there is an expanding middle class, for whom English

1216-687: Is outdated in protection compared to modern US IOTV armour, and even in testing was deemed a downgrade from the IBA. The British Armed Forces also have their own armour, known as Osprey. It is rated to the same general equivalent standard as the US counterpart, the Improved Outer Tactical Vest , and now the Soldier Plate Carrier System and Modular Tactical Vest . The Russian Armed Forces also have armour, known as

1292-783: Is spoken as a first or second language in most of the Commonwealth. Written English in the current and former Commonwealth generally favours British English spelling as opposed to American English , with some exceptions, particularly in Canada, where there are strong influences from neighbouring American English. Few Commonwealth countries besides Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom have produced their own English dictionaries and style guides , and may rely on those produced in other countries. Southern Hemisphere native varieties of English began to develop during

1368-421: Is the bullet-resistant ballistic shield , also called tactical shield. These shields are typically manufactured from advanced synthetics such as Kevlar and are designed to be bulletproof , or at least bullet resistant . Two types of shields are available: Tactical shields often have a firing port so that the officer holding the shield can fire a weapon while being protected by the shield, and they often have

1444-567: Is the product of several waves of immigration and settlement, from Britain, Ireland, France, the United States, and around the world, over a period of more than two centuries. Modern Canadian English has taken significant vocabulary and spelling from the shared political and social institutions of Commonwealth countries. Caribbean English is influenced by the English-based Creole varieties spoken, but they are not one and

1520-419: Is used on warships , armoured fighting vehicles , and some combat aircraft , mostly ground attack aircraft . A second use of the term armour describes armoured forces , armoured weapons , and their role in combat. After the development of armoured warfare , tanks and mechanised infantry and their combat formations came to be referred to collectively as "armour". The word "armour" began to appear in

1596-488: The American Civil War bought iron and steel vests from peddlers (both sides had considered but rejected body armour for standard issue). The effectiveness of the vests varied widely, some successfully deflected bullets and saved lives, but others were poorly made and resulted in tragedy for the soldiers. In any case the vests were abandoned by many soldiers due to their increased weight on long marches, as well as

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1672-452: The American Civil War , it became clear that the ironclad had replaced the unarmoured line-of-battle ship as the most powerful warship afloat. Ironclads were designed for several roles, including as high seas battleships, coastal defence ships , and long-range cruisers . The rapid evolution of warship design in the late 19th century transformed the ironclad from a wooden-hulled vessel which carried sails to supplement its steam engines into

1748-993: The Byzantine Empire . Surviving period examples of barding are rare; however, complete sets are on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art , the Wallace Collection in London, the Royal Armouries in Leeds , and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Horse armour could be made in whole or in part of cuir bouilli (hardened leather), but surviving examples of this are especially rare. War elephants were first used in ancient times without armour, but armour

1824-493: The High Middle Ages for purposes of battlefield identification. Even after the introduction of gunpowder and firearms to the battlefield, shields continued to be used by certain groups. In the 18th century, for example, Scottish Highland fighters liked to wield small shields known as targes , and as late as the 19th century, some non-industrialized peoples (such as Zulu warriors) employed them when waging wars. In

1900-475: The buckler , giving rise to the term " swashbuckler ". The buckler is a small round shield, typically between 8 and 16 inches (20–40 cm) in diameter. The buckler was one of very few types of shield that were usually made of metal. Small and light, the buckler was easily carried by being hung from a belt; it gave little protection from missiles and was reserved for hand-to-hand combat where it served both for protection and offence. The buckler's use began in

1976-496: The light cavalry during the Second World War have almost completely disappeared from the world's militaries due to increased lethality of the weapons available to the vehicle-mounted infantry. The armoured personnel carrier (APC) was devised during the First World War. It allows the safe and rapid movement of infantry in a combat zone, minimising casualties and maximising mobility. APCs are fundamentally different from

2052-517: The 18th century, with the colonisation of Australasia and South Africa. Australian English and New Zealand English are closely related to each other and share some similarities with South African English (though it has unique influences from indigenous African languages, and Dutch influences it inherited along with the development of Afrikaans from Dutch). Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English , as well as many Canadianisms and some French influences. It

2128-781: The 20th and 21st century, shields have been used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist actions, hostage rescue, riot control and siege-breaking. The first prototype of the shield was believed to be created in the Late Neolithic Age . However the oldest surviving shields date to sometime in the Bronze Age . The oldest form of shield was a protection device designed to block attacks by hand weapons, such as swords, axes and maces, or ranged weapons like sling-stones and arrows. Shields have varied greatly in construction over time and place. Sometimes shields were made of metal, but wood or animal hide construction

2204-433: The 4th century. Tankō , worn by foot soldiers and keikō , worn by horsemen were both pre-samurai types of early Japanese armour constructed from iron plates connected together by leather thongs. Japanese lamellar armour ( keiko ) passed through Korea and reached Japan around the 5th century. These early Japanese lamellar armours took the form of a sleeveless jacket, leggings and a helmet. Armour did not always cover all of

2280-550: The 6B43, all the way to 6B45, depending on variant. Their armour runs on the GOST system, which, due to regional conditions, has resulted in a technically higher protective level overall. The first modern production technology for armour plating was used by navies in the construction of the ironclad warship , reaching its pinnacle of development with the battleship . The first tanks were produced during World War I. Aerial armour has been used to protect pilots and aircraft systems since

2356-445: The Commonwealth, although comparatively very few speakers of Indian English are first-language speakers. The same is true of English spoken in other parts of South Asia , e.g. Pakistani English , Sri Lankan English , Bangladeshi English and Myanmar English . South Asian English phonology is highly variable; stress, rhythm and intonation are generally different from those of native varieties. There are also several peculiarities at

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2432-399: The Commonwealth; the term is most often interchangeable with British English , but is also used to distinguish between British English and that in the rest of the Commonwealth. English in the Commonwealth is diverse, and many regions have developed their own local varieties of the language. In Cyprus , it does not have official status but is widely used as a lingua franca . English

2508-475: The First World War. In modern ground forces' usage, the meaning of armour has expanded to include the role of troops in combat. After the evolution of armoured warfare , mechanised infantry were mounted in armoured fighting vehicles and replaced light infantry in many situations. In modern armoured warfare, armoured units equipped with tanks and infantry fighting vehicles serve the historic role of heavy cavalry , light cavalry , and dragoons , and belong to

2584-526: The Middle Ages and continued well into the 16th century. In Italy, the targa , parma , and rotella were used by common people, fencers and even knights. The development of plate armour made shields less and less common as it eliminated the need for a shield. Lightly armoured troops continued to use shields after men-at-arms and knights ceased to use them. Shields continued in use even after gunpowder powered weapons made them essentially obsolete on

2660-525: The Middle Ages as a derivative of Old French . It is dated from 1297 as a "mail, defensive covering worn in combat". The word originates from the Old French armure , itself derived from the Latin armatura meaning "arms and/or equipment", with the root armare meaning "arms or gear". Armour has been used throughout recorded history . It has been made from a variety of materials, beginning with

2736-456: The Second World War armour forms, now incorporating not only harder composites , but also reactive armour designed to defeat shaped charges . As a result of this, the main battle tank (MBT) conceived in the Cold War era can survive multiple rocket-propelled grenade strikes with minimal effect on the crew or the operation of the vehicle. The light tanks that were the last descendants of

2812-796: The armour's reaction to fire does not cause issues with regards to the fire barrier being armoured to defeat explosions and projectiles in addition to fire, especially since both functions must be provided simultaneously, meaning they must be fire-tested together to provide realistic evidence of fitness for purpose. Combat drones use little to no vehicular armour as they are not crewed vessels, this results in them being lightweight and small in size. Body armour for war horses has been used since at least 2000 BC. Cloth, leather, and metal protection covered cavalry horses in ancient civilisations, including ancient Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and Rome. Some formed heavy cavalry units of armoured horses and riders used to attack infantry and mounted archers. Armour for horses

2888-534: The armoured branch of warfare. The first ironclad battleship, with iron armour over a wooden hull, Gloire , was launched by the French Navy in 1859 prompting the British Royal Navy to build a counter. The following year they launched HMS  Warrior , which was twice the size and had iron armour over an iron hull. After the first battle between two ironclads took place in 1862 during

2964-400: The armpit, crook of the elbow and groin. Another advantage of plate was that a lance rest could be fitted to the breast plate. The small skull cap evolved into a bigger true helmet, the bascinet , as it was lengthened downward to protect the back of the neck and the sides of the head. Additionally, several new forms of fully enclosed helmets were introduced in the late 14th century. Probably

3040-504: The battlefield. In the 18th century, the Scottish clans used a small, round targe that was partially effective against the firearms of the time, although it was arguably more often used against British infantry bayonets and cavalry swords in close-in fighting. During the 19th century, non-industrial cultures with little access to guns were still using war shields. Zulu warriors carried large lightweight shields called Ishlangu made from

3116-567: The body. Many had a strap called a guige that allowed them to be slung over the user's back when not in use or on horseback. During the 14th–13th century BC, the Sards or Shardana , working as mercenaries for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II , utilized either large or small round shields against the Hittites . The Mycenaean Greeks used two types of shields: the "figure-of-eight" shield and

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3192-519: The body; sometimes no more than a helmet and leg plates were worn. The rest of the body was generally protected by means of a large shield . Examples of armies equipping their troops in this fashion were the Aztecs (13th to 15th century CE). In East Asia, many types of armour were commonly used at different times by various cultures, including scale armour , lamellar armour , laminar armour , plated mail , mail , plate armour , and brigandine . Around

3268-543: The country sought closer ties with the Anglophone world . Hong Kong ceased to be part of the Commonwealth (by virtue of being a British territory) in 1997. Nonetheless, the English language there still enjoys status as an official language. English was introduced into the subcontinent by the British Raj . Among the partitioned post-independent countries, India has the largest English-speaking population in

3344-461: The dynastic Tang, Song, and early Ming Period, cuirasses and plates (mingguangjia) were also used, with more elaborate versions for officers in war. The Chinese, during that time used partial plates for "important" body parts instead of covering their whole body since too much plate armour hinders their martial arts movement. The other body parts were covered in cloth, leather, lamellar, or mountain pattern armor . In pre-Qin dynasty times, leather armour

3420-500: The early 15th century, advances in weaponry allowed infantry to defeat armoured knights on the battlefield. The quality of the metal used in armour deteriorated as armies became bigger and armour was made thicker, necessitating breeding of larger cavalry horses. If during the 14–15th centuries armour seldom weighed more than 15 kg, then by the late 16th century it weighed 25 kg. The increasing weight and thickness of late 16th century armour therefore gave substantial resistance. In

3496-535: The early 20th century. From their introduction, muskets could pierce plate armour, so cavalry had to be far more mindful of the fire. In Japan, armour continued to be used until the late 19th century, with the last major fighting in which armour was used, this occurred in 1868. Samurai armour had one last short lived use in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion . Though the age of the knight was over, armour continued to be used in many capacities. Soldiers in

3572-476: The early medieval age, and the full steel plate harness worn by later medieval and renaissance knights , and breast and back plates worn by heavy cavalry in several European countries until the first year of World War I (1914–1915). The samurai warriors of Feudal Japan utilised many types of armour for hundreds of years up to the 19th century. Cuirasses and helmets were manufactured in Japan as early as

3648-460: The early years of low velocity firearms, full suits of armour, or breast plates actually stopped bullets fired from a modest distance. Crossbow bolts, if still in use, would seldom penetrate good plate, nor would any bullet unless fired from close range. In effect, rather than making plate armour obsolete, the use of firearms stimulated the development of plate armour into its later stages. For most of that period, it allowed horsemen to fight while being

3724-523: The formation of plates faster and cheaper. At times the development of armour has paralleled the development of increasingly effective weaponry on the battlefield, with armourers seeking to create better protection without sacrificing mobility. Well-known armour types in European history include the lorica hamata , lorica squamata , and the lorica segmentata of the Roman legions , the mail hauberk of

3800-436: The horse protection and enhanced the visual impression of a mounted knight. Late in the era, elaborate barding was used in parade armour. Gradually, starting in the mid-16th century, one plate element after another was discarded to save weight for foot soldiers. Back and breast plates continued to be used throughout the entire period of the 18th century and through Napoleonic times, in many European heavy cavalry units, until

3876-414: The levels of morphology, syntax and usage, some of which can also be found among educated speakers. Southeast Asian English comprises Singapore English , Malaysian English , and Brunei English ; it features some influence from Malay and Chinese languages, as well as Indian English . Other languages: Shield Shields vary greatly in size and shape, ranging from large panels that protect

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3952-1283: The mid-19th to the mid-20th century, including the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the First and Second Boer Wars (1880–81 and 1899–1902), the Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921), the First (1914–1918) and Second World Wars (1939–1945) and the First Indochina War (1946–1954). The most intensive use of armoured trains was during the Russian Civil War (1918–1920). Ancient siege engines were usually protected by wooden armour, often covered with wet hides or thin metal to prevent being easily burned. Medieval war wagons were horse-drawn wagons that were similarly armoured. These contained guns or crossbowmen that could fire through gun-slits. The first modern armoured fighting vehicles were armoured cars , developed c.  1900 . These started as ordinary wheeled motor-cars protected by iron shields, typically mounting

4028-514: The military. The US Army has adopted Interceptor body armour , which uses Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts (ESAPIs) in the chest, sides, and back of the armour. Each plate is rated to stop a range of ammunition including 3 hits from a 7.62×51 NATO AP round at a range of 10 m (33 ft). Dragon Skin is another ballistic vest which is currently in testing with mixed results. As of 2019, it has been deemed too heavy, expensive, and unreliable, in comparison to more traditional plates, and it

4104-491: The most recognised style of armour in the world became the plate armour associated with the knights of the European Late Middle Ages , but continuing to the early 17th century Age of Enlightenment in all European countries. By 1400, the full harness of plate armour had been developed in armouries of Lombardy. Heavy cavalry dominated the battlefield for centuries in part because of their armour. In

4180-432: The period before the Second World War, military pilots, once the "knights of the air" during the First World War, became far more vulnerable to ground fire. As a response , armour plating was added to aircraft to protect aircrew and vulnerable areas such as engines and fuel tanks. Self-sealing fuel tanks functioned like armour in that they added protection but also increased weight and cost. Tank armour has progressed from

4256-504: The previously used armoured half-tracks in that they offer a higher level of protection from artillery burst fragments, and greater mobility in more terrain types. The basic APC design was substantially expanded to an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) when properties of an APC and a light tank were combined in one vehicle. Naval armour has fundamentally changed from the Second World War doctrine of thicker plating to defend against shells , bombs and torpedoes. Passive defence naval armour

4332-1040: The role of the ground attack aircraft significantly diminished after the Korean War , it re-emerged during the Vietnam War , and in the recognition of this, the US Air Force authorised the design and production of what became the A-10 dedicated anti-armour and ground-attack aircraft that first saw action in the Gulf War . High-voltage transformer fire barriers are often required to defeat ballistics from small arms as well as projectiles from transformer bushings and lightning arresters , which form part of large electrical transformers , per NFPA 850 . Such fire barriers may be designed to inherently function as armour, or may be passive fire protection materials augmented by armour , where care must be taken to ensure that

4408-411: The same century where longbowmen shot horses and the then dismounted French knights were killed by heavy infantry . Barding developed as a response to such events. Examples of armour for horses could be found as far back as classical antiquity . Cataphracts , with scale armour for both rider and horse, are believed by many historians to have influenced the later European knights, via contact with

4484-710: The same. There is a great deal of variation in the way English is spoken, with a "Standard English" at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum and Creole languages at the other. These dialects have roots in 17th-century British and Irish English , and African languages , plus localised influences from other colonial languages including French, Spanish, and Dutch; unlike most native varieties of English, West Indian dialects often tend to be syllable-timed rather than stress-timed . Second-language varieties of English in Africa and Asia have often undergone " indigenisation "; that is, each English-speaking community has developed (or

4560-481: The shield tight to the arm. Used by foot and mounted troops alike, it gradually came to replace the round shield as the common choice until the end of the 12th century, when more efficient limb armour allowed the shields to grow shorter, and be entirely replaced by the 14th century. As body armour improved, knight 's shields became smaller, leading to the familiar heater shield style. Both kite and heater style shields were made of several layers of laminated wood, with

4636-421: The shield without obstructing vision. Similarly, metal riot shields often have a small window at eye level for this purpose. These riot shields are most commonly used to block and push back crowds when the users stand in a "wall" to block protesters, and to protect against shrapnel , projectiles like stones and bricks , molotov cocktails , and during hand-to-hand combat . The second type of modern police shield

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4712-487: The steel-built, turreted battleships and cruisers familiar in the 20th century. This change was pushed forward by the development of heavier naval guns (the ironclads of the 1880s carried some of the heaviest guns ever mounted at sea), more sophisticated steam engines, and advances in metallurgy which made steel shipbuilding possible. The rapid pace of change in the ironclad period meant that many ships were obsolete as soon as they were complete, and that naval tactics were in

4788-568: The stigma they got for being cowards from their fellow troops. At the start of World War I, thousands of the French Cuirassiers rode out to engage the German Cavalry. By that period, the shiny metallic cuirass was covered in a dark paint and a canvas wrap covered their elaborate Napoleonic style helmets, to help mitigate the sunlight being reflected off the surfaces, thereby alerting the enemy of their location. Their armour

4864-417: The targets of defending arquebusiers without being easily killed. Full suits of armour were actually worn by generals and princely commanders right up to the second decade of the 18th century. It was the only way they could be mounted and survey the overall battlefield with safety from distant musket fire. The horse was afforded protection from lances and infantry weapons by steel plate barding . This gave

4940-549: The use of leathers or fabrics as protection and evolving through chain mail and metal plate into today's modern composites . For much of military history the manufacture of metal personal armour has dominated the technology and employment of armour. Armour drove the development of many important technologies of the Ancient World, including wood lamination , mining, metal refining , vehicle manufacture, leather processing, and later decorative metal working. Its production

5016-404: The user's arm and one or more being held by the hand. Often shields were decorated with a painted pattern or an animal representation to show their army or clan. It was common for Aristocratic officials such and knights , barons , dukes , and kings to have their shields painted with customary designs known as a coat of arms. These designs developed into systematized heraldic devices during

5092-703: The user's whole body to small models (such as the buckler ) that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields were made of relatively deep, absorbent, wooden planking to protect soldiers from the impact of spears and crossbow bolts, others were thinner and lighter and designed mainly for deflecting blade strikes (like the roromaraugi or qauata ). Finally, shields vary greatly in shape, ranging in roundness to angularity, proportional length and width, symmetry and edge pattern; different shapes provide more optimal protection for infantry or cavalry, enhance portability, provide secondary uses such as ship protection or as

5168-634: Was also the longest-lasting and most famous and influential of all of the ancient Greek shields. The Spartans used the aspis to create the Greek phalanx formation. Their shields offered protection not only for themselves but for their comrades to their left. Examples of Germanic wooden shields circa 350 BC – 500 AD survive from weapons sacrifices in Danish bogs. The heavily armored Roman legionaries carried large shields ( scuta ) that could provide far more protection, but made swift movement

5244-697: Was developed, an armour made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat. Early plate in Italy, and elsewhere in the 13th–15th century, were made of iron. Iron armour could be carburised or case hardened to give a surface of harder steel. Plate armour became cheaper than mail by the 15th century as it required much less labour and labour had become much more expensive after the Black Death , though it did require larger furnaces to produce larger blooms . Mail continued to be used to protect those joints which could not be adequately protected by plate, such as

5320-440: Was done to accommodate the shaft of a spear, thus facilitating tactics requiring the soldiers to stand close together forming a wall of shields . Typical in the early European Middle Ages were round shields with light, non-splitting wood like linden , fir , alder , or poplar , usually reinforced with leather cover on one or both sides and occasionally metal rims, encircling a metal shield boss . These light shields suited

5396-585: Was influential in the Industrial Revolution , and furthered commercial development of metallurgy and engineering. Armour was also an important factor in the development of firearms , which in turn revolutionised warfare. Significant factors in the development of armour include the economic and technological necessities of its production. For instance, plate armour first appeared in Medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made

5472-406: Was introduced because elephants injured by enemy weapons would often flee the battlefield. Elephant armour was often made from hardened leather, which was fitted onto an individual elephant while moist, then dried to create a hardened shell. Alternatively, metal armour pieces were sometimes sewn into heavy cloth. Later lamellar armour (small overlapping metal plates) was introduced. Full plate armour

5548-614: Was made out of various animals, with more exotic ones such as the rhinoceros. Mail , sometimes called "chainmail", made of interlocking iron rings is believed to have first appeared some time after 300 BC. Its invention is credited to the Celts ; the Romans are thought to have adopted their design. Gradually, small additional plates or discs of iron were added to the mail to protect vulnerable areas. Hardened leather and splinted construction were used for arm and leg pieces. The coat of plates

5624-643: Was much more common; wicker and even turtle shells have been used. Many surviving examples of metal shields are generally felt to be ceremonial rather than practical, for example the Yetholm-type shields of the Bronze Age , or the Iron Age Battersea shield . Size and weight varied greatly. Lightly armored warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields ( pelte ) that were either small or thin. Heavy troops might be equipped with robust shields that could cover most of

5700-528: Was not typically used due to its expense and the danger of the animal overheating. Commonwealth English The use of the English language in current and former Commonwealth countries was largely inherited from British colonisation , with some exceptions. English serves as the medium of inter-Commonwealth relations and the language forms part of the common culture of the Commonwealth . Commonwealth English refers to English as practised in

5776-516: Was only meant for protection against edged weapons such as bayonets , sabres , and lances . Cavalry had to be wary of repeating rifles , machine guns, and artillery , unlike the foot soldiers, who at least had a trench to give them some protection. Today, ballistic vests , also known as flak jackets , made of ballistic cloth (e.g. kevlar , dyneema , twaron , spectra etc.) and ceramic or metal plates are common among police officers, security guards , corrections officers and some branches of

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