View source for Tabard

{{Short description|Type of short coat}}
{{other uses}}
{{refimprove|date=June 2012}}
[[File:Pursuivant tabard.jpg|thumb|upright|A 20th-century English [[herald of arms|herald]]'s tabard]]
A '''tabard''' is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the [[late Middle Ages]] and [[early modern period]] in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more developed form it was open at the sides, and it could be worn with or without a belt. Though most were ordinary garments, often work clothes, tabards might be emblazoned on the front and back with a [[heraldry|coat of arms]] ([[livery]]), and in this form they survive as the distinctive garment of [[Officer of Arms|officers of arms]].

In modern [[British English|British]] usage, the term has been revived for what is known in American English as a [[Apron#Tabard|cobbler apron]]: a lightweight open-sided upper overgarment, of similar design to its medieval and heraldic counterpart, worn in particular by workers in the catering, cleaning and healthcare industries as [[Personal protective equipment|protective clothing]], or outdoors by those requiring [[high-visibility clothing]]. Tabards may also be worn by [[percussionist]]s in [[marching band]]s in order to protect their uniforms from the straps and rigging used to support the instruments.

==Middle Ages==
[[File:the waterseller walters.jpg|thumb|right|''[[The Waterseller of Seville (Velázquez)|The Waterseller of Seville]]'' by [[Diego Velázquez]], {{Circa|1620}}, depicting a functional workman's tabard]]
A tabard (from the French ''tabarde'') was originally a humble outer garment of tunic form, generally without sleeves, worn by peasants, monks and foot-soldiers. In this sense, the earliest citation recorded in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' dates from {{circa|1300}}.<ref name=oed>{{OED|tabard}}</ref>

By the second half of the 15th century, tabards, now open at the sides and so usually belted, were also being worn by [[knight]]s in military contexts over their [[armour]], and were usually emblazoned with their arms (though sometimes worn plain). The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' first records this use of the word in English in {{c.}}1450.<ref name=oed/> Tabards were apparently distinguished from [[surcoat]]s by being open-sided, and by being shorter.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}  In its later form, a tabard normally comprised four textile panels – two large panels hanging down the wearer's front and back, and two smaller panels hanging over his arms as shoulder-pieces or open "sleeves" – each emblazoned with the same coat of arms. Tabards became an important means of battlefield identification with the development of plate armour as the use of shields declined. They are frequently represented on [[Effigy|tomb effigies]] and [[monumental brass]]es of the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

A very expensive, but plain, garment described as a tabard is worn by [[Giovanni Arnolfini]] in the [[Arnolfini Portrait]] of 1434 ([[National Gallery, London]]). This may be made of [[silk]] and/or [[velvet]], and is trimmed and fully lined with fur, possibly [[sable]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Schools |first=Lorne |last=Campbell |place=London |publisher=National Gallery |series=National Gallery Catalogues |year=1998 |isbn=185709171X }}</ref>

At [[The Queen's College]], [[Oxford]], the scholars on the foundation were called tabarders, from the tabard (not in this case an emblazoned garment) which they wore.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n7JZAAAAMAAJ|title=Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: A Dictionary, Historical and Comparative, of the Heterodox Speech of All Classes of Society for More Than Three Hundred Years : with Synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, Etc|last=Farmer|first=John Stephen|publisher=Unknown|year=1903|pages=54|language=en}}</ref>

A surviving garment similar to the medieval tabard is the monastic [[scapular]]. This is a wide strip of fabric worn both front and back of the body, with an opening for the head and no sleeves. It may have a hood, and may be worn under or over a belt.

==British heraldry==
[[File:Thomas Hawley Clarenceux King of Arms.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Hawley (officer of arms)|Thomas Hawley]], [[Clarenceux King of Arms]], depicted in his tabard on a [[grant of arms]] of 1556]]
By the end of the 16th century, the tabard was particularly associated with [[officer of arms|officers of arms]]. The shift in emphasis was reported by [[John Stow]] in 1598, when he described a tabard as:

{{quote|a Jacquit, or sleevelesse coat, whole before, open on both sides, with a square collor, winged at the shoulders: a stately garment of olde time, commonly worne of Noble men and others, both at home and abroade in the Warres, but then (to witte in the warres) theyr Armes embrodered, or otherwise depicte uppon them, that every man by his Coate of Armes might bee knowne from others: but now these Tabardes are onely worne by the Heraults, and bee called their coates of Armes in service.<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Stow |author-link=John Stow |title=A Survay of London |location=London |year=1598 |page=338 }}</ref>}}

In the case of Royal officers of arms, the tabard is emblazoned with the coat of arms of the sovereign. [[Private Officer of Arms|Private officers of arms]], such as still exist in [[Scotland]], make use of tabards emblazoned with the coat of arms of the person who employs them. In the [[United Kingdom]] the different ranks of officers of arms can be distinguished by the fabric from which their tabards are made. The tabard of a [[King of Arms|king of arms]] is made of [[velvet]], the tabard of a [[herald|herald of arms]] of [[satin]], and that of a [[pursuivant|pursuivant of arms]] of damask [[silk]].<ref name=Sigurdharson>{{cite web|title=A Review of the Historical Regalia of Officers of Arms |url=http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/Heralds_wear.html|publisher=heraldry.sca.org|access-date=8 June 2012|author=Eirìkr Mjoksiglandi Sigurdharson|date=December 31, 2003}}</ref> The oldest surviving English herald's tabard is that of Sir [[William Dugdale]] as [[Garter Principal King of Arms|Garter King of Arms]] (1677–1686).<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Richard |editor1-last=Marks |editor2-first=Ann |editor2-last=Payne |title=British Heraldry: from its origins to c.1800 |publisher=British Museum |place=London |year=1978 |page=51, plate }}</ref>

It was at one time the custom for English pursuivants to wear their tabards "athwart", that is to say with the smaller ("shoulder") panels at the front and back, and the larger panels over the arms; but this practice was ended during the reign of [[James II of England|James II and VII]].<ref name=Sigurdharson/><ref>{{cite book |last=Fox-Davies |first=A. C. |author-link=Arthur Charles Fox-Davies |editor-first=J. P. |editor-last=Brooke-Little |editor-link=John Brooke-Little |title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry |url=https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh0000foxd_v7a5 |url-access=registration |publisher=Nelson |place=London |year=1969 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh0000foxd_v7a5/page/31 31]–2 |isbn=9780171441024 }}</ref>

The derisive [[Scots language|Scots]] nickname of "{{lang|sco|Toom Tabard}}" for [[John Balliol]] ({{Circa|1249}} – 1314) may originate from either an alleged incident where his arms were stripped from his tabard in public,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Alan |title=In the Footsteps of William Wallace: In Scotland and Northern England |date=2010 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=9780750951432 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0b8SDQAAQBAJ&dq=arms+of+John+Balliol+Toom+Tabard&pg=PT74 |access-date=2 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref> or a reference to the Balliol arms which are a plain shield with an [[Orle (heraldry)|orle]], also known as an ''inescutcheon voided''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodgson |first1=John |last2=Hodgson-Hinde |first2=John |title=A History of Northumberland, in three parts |date=1832 |publisher=Printed by E. Walker |page=124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxYMAQAAMAAJ&dq=arms+of+John+Balliol&pg=PA124 |access-date=2 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==Canadian heraldry==
A tabard for the [[Chief Herald of Canada]] to wear on special occasions was unveiled in May 2012 by [[David Johnston (governor general)|David Johnston]], the then [[Governor General of Canada]]. The tabard weighs {{convert|2|kg|lbs}} and is coloured in [[royal blue]], a colour emblematic of the governor general. The tabard is made up of four sections that include several symbols. Its body is embroidered with stripes of alternating maple leaves with raven-bears at the body's centre. The raven-bears are derived from the supporters of the arms of the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]], and were designed in the emblematic tradition of [[Coast Salish]] and [[Kwakwakaʼwakw]] nation. Unlike traditional tabards, the coat of arms of Canada is embroidered on the tabard's sleeves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldry.ca/content/project_tabard.php|title=CHA Tabard Project|year=2024|access-date=12 June 2024|publisher=Royal Heraldry Society of Canada|website=www.heraldry.ca}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="180px" heights="200px">
Herald Gelre of the Duke of Gueldres.jpg|Gelre Herald to the [[Guelders|Duke of Guelders]], {{circa|1380}}
JoanBeaufortandJames.jpg|[[James I of Scotland|James I]], King of Scotland 1406–1437, and his wife [[Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots|Joan Beaufort]]
Rubbing of the Denys funerary brass, Saint Mary the Virgin, Olveston, Gloucestershire, England.jpg|Tabards displaying [[Quarter (heraldry)|quartered]] coats of arms on front and sleeves: the [[Denys brass, Olveston|Denys brass]] of 1505, [[Olveston]], Gloucestershire
Pompa funebris Albert Ardux - Heravlts de Flandria.jpg|Heraldic tabards worn at the funeral of [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria]], in Brussels in 1622
Lelyvanda.jpg|A pursuivant wearing his tabard "athwart". A drawing by [[Peter Lely]] from the 1660s.
St_John_the_Baptist_Wearing_the_Red_Tabard_of_the_Order_of_St_John_-_Mattia_Preti.jpg|''[[St John the Baptist Wearing the Red Tabard of the Order of St John]]'' (1671) by [[Mattia Preti]]
Peter O'Donoghue.jpg|[[Peter O'Donoghue (officer of arms)|Peter O'Donoghue]], [[Bluemantle Pursuivant]], photographed in 2006
Baker's wife.jpg|A modern protective tabard worn by a bakery worker
Manx grand prix 2010 1823.JPG|Orange [[High-visibility clothing|high-visibility]] tabards worn by competitive motorcyclists
</gallery>

==Cultural allusions==
A tabard was the [[inn sign]] of the [[The Tabard|Tabard Inn]] in [[Southwark]], London, established in 1307 and remembered as the starting point for [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s pilgrims on their journey to [[Canterbury]] in ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', dating from about the 1380s.

In [[Edmund Clerihew Bentley|E. C. Bentley]]'s short story "The Genuine Tabard", published in his collection ''Trent Intervenes'' in 1938, a wealthy American couple purchase an antique heraldic tabard, having been told that it was worn in 1783 by Sir Rowland Verey, [[Garter King of Arms]], when proclaiming the [[Peace of Paris (1783)|Peace of Versailles]] from the steps of [[St James's Palace]]. The amateur detective Philip Trent is able to point out that it in fact bears the post-1837 [[Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom#Development|royal arms]].<ref>{{cite book |first=E. C. |last=Bentley |author-link=Edmund Clerihew Bentley |chapter=The genuine tabard |title=Trent Intervenes |orig-year=1938 |year=1953 |location=London |publisher=Penguin |pages=7–24 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{commons category|Tabards}}
{{wikt|tabard}}
* [[Apron]]
* [[Gilet]]
* [[Journade]]

==References==
<references/>

{{heraldry}}
[[Category:Military uniforms]]
[[Category:Heraldry]]
[[Category:History of Western fashion]]
[[Category:Medieval European costume]]