separate mail collar to fully protect the neck, the developed gorget was worn under the cuirass and was intended to cover a larger area of the neck, nape, shoulders and upper chest, from which the edges of the backplate and breastplate had receded. The gorget served as an anchor point for the pauldrons, which either had holes in them to engage pins projecting from the gorget, or straps which could be buckled to the gorget. The neck was protected by a high collar of articulated lames, and the entire gorget was divided into front and back pieces which were hinged at the side so that the gorget could be put on and taken off. Some helmets had additional neck lames which overlapped the gorget, while others formed a tight seal with the rim of the gorget to eliminate any gaps. By the 17th century there appeared a form of gorget with a low, unarticulated collar and larger front and back plates which covered more of the upper chest and back. In addition to being worn under the breast & backplates, as evidenced by at least two contemporary engravings, they were also commonly worn over civilian clothing or a buff coat. Some gorgets of this period were "parade" pieces that were beautifully etched, gilded, engraved, chased, embossed or enameled at great expense. Gradually the gorget grew smaller and more symbolic, becoming a single crescent shape worn on a chain which suspended the gorget ever lower on the chest, so that the gorget no longer protected the throat in normal wear. The Japanese (samurai) form of the gorget, called a nodowa, was either fastened by itself around the neck or came as an integral part of the face defence or men yoroi. It consisted of several lames made of lacquered leather or iron, each of which either consisted of one piece or of scales laced together in horizontal rows. The lames were articulated vertically, overlapping bottom to top, by another set of silk laces. As part of military uniforms During the 18th and early 19th centuries, crescent-shaped gorgets of silver or silver gilt were worn by officers in most European armies, as a badge of rank and an indication that they were on duty. These last survivals of armour were much smaller (usually about three to four inches in width) than their Medieval predecessors and were suspended by chains or ribbons. In