A brassard is an approximate triangular shaped piece of fabric designed to be worn around the upper arm, held in place by a shoulder strap on the clothing underneath. It is used as an item of military uniform to which unit, qualification or rank badges may be attached, instead of to the actual clothing. For alternate meanings, such as the musical instrument, see triangle (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Textile be merged into this article or section. ... A shoulder strap is a piece of fabric used to support clothing or other items from the shoulder of the wearer. ... Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in military dress uniform, with medals. ...
It is frequently used by cadets, since not only is clothing exchanged between individuals more often (as they leave or join the organisation, or as they grow) but a cadet's progress through the rank structure is also far more rapid than in the regular forces (compressing a twenty-year ascent from CDT to CUO into six years). If brassards were not used, each promotion or visit to the stores would involve a lot of unpicking and possibly re-sewing. However. brassards are issued and used in regular forces as well, for example by mechanics who can "take their rank with them" between changes of coveralls. Cadet refers to a person or people who are junior in some way. ...
The word brassard (also brassart or brasset) is also used to refer to pieces of armour worn on the upper arms. A hoplite wearing (only) a helmet, breastplate greaves and a shield. ...
Jean-Luc Brassard (born August 24, 1972 in Valleyfield, Quebec) is a French-Canadian freestyle skier, winning the gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in the sport's debut as a medal event.
Brassard has been credited as popularizing the wearing of bright knee pads to show off absorption and leg position for mogul skiers to best show judges how smoothly the athlete is taking the turns.
In his other Olympic appearances, Brassard placed 7th when the event was a demonstration sport in 1992, 4th in 1998 and 21st in 2002.
Brassard, who found out she was HIV positive in 1989, says that she was both healthy and well-informed when she became pregnant in 1992.
Brassard was in the middle of labor when five men -- a social worker, a Youth Protective Services administrator, a doctor and two police -- entered her apartment and forced her to go to the hospital.
Brassard and her supporters point to the results of a recent South African study, published in the Lancet in August, which concluded that HIV was not necessarily passed through breast milk.