copper, have been found at archaeological sites of various ages associated with mound building cultures of Eastern North America, going back thousands of years. The British Empire awarded gorgets to chiefs of American Indian tribes both as tokens of goodwill and a badge of their high status. Those being awarded a gorget were known as gorget captains Gorgets were also awarded to African chiefs. In colonial Australia gorgets were given to Aboriginal people by government officials and pastoralists as insignia of high rank or reward for services to the settler community. Frequently inscribed with the word "King" along with the name of the tribal group to which the recipient belonged (despite the absence of this kind of rank among indigenous Australians), the "breastplates", as they came to be known, were highly regarded by those who received them. Gorget patches The scarlet patches still worn on each side of the collar of the tunics of British Army general officers and senior officers are called "gorget patches" in reference to this article of armour. There were two types - the first, red with a crimson centre stripe, were for Colonels and Brigadiers, and red with a gold centre stripe for General Officers. Today, they signify an officer of the General Staff, to which all British officers are appointed on reaching the rank of Colonel. With limited exceptions such as senior officers of the Army Medical and Dental Corps, the historic colour differentials are no longer worn in the British service. However, the historic colours are still used in the gorget patches of the Canadian Army. Air officers in the Indian and Sri Lankan air forces also wear gorget patches with one to five stars depending on their seniority. RAF officer cadets wear white gorget patches on their service dress and mess dress uniforms. Very similar collar patches are worn by British army officer cadets at Sandhurst on the standup collars of their dark-blue "Number One" dress uniforms. These features of modern uniforms are a residual survival from the earlier practice of suspending the actual gorgets from ribbons attached to buttons on both collars of the uniform. Such buttons were often mounted on a patch of coloured cloth or gold embroidery. Modern versions Recent advances in protective armour have led to the functional gorget being reintroduced into the US Army and Marine Improved Outer Tactical Vest and Modular Tactical Vest systems respectively. Other