Belt
A belt is a long piece of flexible material worn around the waist, used to support other articles of clothing. In Amtgard, belts are often used as symbols of status, or to serve as a place to hang pouches and belt flags on the person.
Belt can also be used as a verb, where it means "to bestow a belt, in the context of a knighting ceremony" or "to accept a squire, page, or Man-At-Arms belt.".
Contents
In history
Belts have been documented for male clothing since the Bronze Age. Both genders used them off and on, depending on the current fashion.
In Amtgard
"Accept this white belt, symbolizing the purity of your honor, the sign of the Order of Chivalry, and of your knightly rank and station."
Belts are used both to keep your pants up and your tunic down.
Belts are often used to denote allegiance or status in Amtgard. The colors of belts in Amtgard are used to denote status. White belts (any belt more than 25% white) are reserved for knights and may not be worn by others. A knight may also choose to trim a knight's white belt with a color particular to that four Orders of Knighthood: Gold for Knight of the Crown, Silver for Knight of the Sword, Red for Knight of the Flame, Green for Knight of the Serpent and Blue for Knight of Battle.
Red belts (any belt more than 50% red) are generally only worn by squires. Black belts (with or with out silver trim) are generally only worn by men-at arms. Yellow belts are generally only worn by pages. These colors are not reserved like knights' belts, but are a symbol of the knightly mentor-student relationship and are important Amtgard symbols.
In the Kingdom of Neverwinter, it was once traditional for Men at Arms to wear green belts, but these have been phased out and replaced by the black belts of the rest of the Amtgard world.
Sometimes, the word belt is used to denoted a rise in the order such as in relation to knighthood, in terms such as "four-belted knight", meaning a knight who has earned all four orders of knighthood. It can also signify a knighthood, as in "He received his belt in 2003". The same is true or squire or page. It is also a possibility that a belt might denote household or company affiliation; many companies and households wear woven belts incorporating colors from their heraldry.
Belts are often adorned by belt favors, pouches, sword frogs and other items.
Household and Company Belts
Some households and companies bestow a particularly colored belt as a symbol of membership. Some examples of this are:
- Green and Black - worn by the Green Dragons.
- Tan and Black - Worn by the Justicars
- Red and blue, and sometimes black - Landcrest
- Red and Black - worn by the Saracens
- Green, Brown, and Black - Veritas belt
- Navy Blue, Red, and Tan - Triad belt
- Grey and Purple, with a dash of black - Mystic Falcons
- Grey and Red - worn by the War Dragons
Making a belt
The two most common materials for belts are leather and macrame cord.
Leather belt
Macrame belt
Main article: Macrame Belt
Links
- Take Off Your White Belt by Randall, discussing the culture surrounding the white belt
- Cheap and Easy Woven Belt Tutorial by Alona
- Faraque's Belt Weaving Method
- macrame
- Braided Belt
- Beaded Belt
- Basic Macrame Weave
- Measuring cord for a Macrame Belt
- Woven Belt Patterns
- Woven Belt Endings
