An aiguillette is a decorative braided cord most often worn on uniforms, but may also be seen on other costumes such as academic dress, where it will signify an honour. Firstly, the word "aiguillette" referred to the lacing used to fasten plate armor together. As such, a knot or loop arrangement was used which sometimes hung from the shoulder.Aiguillettes should not be confused with lanyards, which are cords also worn from the shoulder (or around the neck), but do not have the pointed aiguillette tips and are usually of fibre rather than gold or silver wire, and often not braided.It is said that the aiguillette begins with the practice of carrying a pick on a shoulder rope, with which a gun captain would clear the touch-hole of a fouled cannon. Musketeer arguments suggest that the "tags" on the aiguillette are representations of wooden charge carriers. Another discounted gunner-related origin suggests that the "tag" represents a spike carried by the gun captain with which he would "spike" the gun if capture was imminent. Finally it has been suggested that the aiguillettes derive from the shoulder decoration worn by standard bearers in the French Imperial Army under Napoleon. The standards were topped by the imperial eagle. The standard bearers were known as "aiglettes" to their comrades-in-arms.An aiguillette derived from the laces used to secure plates of armor together, the breast and back plates would be attached on one side with short loops of cord acting as a hinge, and on the other by a longer and more ornate tied one.