Western culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

, a black armband signifies that the wearer is in

mourning Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

or wishes to identify with the commemoration of a family friend, comrade or team member who has died. This use is particularly common in the first meeting following the loss of a member. In sport, especially

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, players will often wear black armbands following the death of former player or manager. Black armbands are also worn by uniformed organisations, such as the police, fire services or military, at the funeral of a comrade or on the death of a sovereign.

Historical examples

File:Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia from NPG.jpg,

Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 159613 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Since her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted for just one winter, she is called the Wi ...

wearing a black armband in a 1614 portrait File:Leopold III (1934).jpg,

Leopold III of Belgium Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasi ...

, wearing a black armband contemporary with his ascension to the throne following the death of his father, Albert I File:FDR-September-11-1941.jpg,

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

wearing a black armband in mourning of his mother.

References

{{Reflist Armbands Acknowledgements of death

Historical examples

See also

References