{"id":4656,"date":"2020-04-09T13:39:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T13:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/?p=4656"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:27:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:27:29","slug":"history-and-evolution-of-body-armor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/history-and-evolution-of-body-armor\/","title":{"rendered":"History & Evolution Of Body Armor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naturally, many people would think of body armor as some new technology. Perhaps recently invented to protect modern-day men and women in both the armed services and law enforcement. The truth is, however, that body armor has evolved alongside weapons for thousands of years, reflecting humanity\u2019s natural instinct to survive conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

As firearms reshaped warfare, armor shifted from rigid metal to lighter, more practical solutions, eventually giving rise to modern ballistic vests made from advanced synthetic fibers and ceramics. Today\u2019s body armor balances protection, mobility, and durability\u2014standing on a long history of innovation driven by the realities of the battlefield.<\/p>\n

Body Armor History<\/h2>\n

Throughout recorded history, and before that, the earliest warriors employed a variety of materials for personal protection. The idea was to protect against injury in combat, hunting, and other dangerous situations. Rudimentary body armor consisted mainly of protective clothing and shields made from animal skins. Early forms ranged from layered leather and woven fabrics to bronze and iron plates designed to deflect blades and arrows.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At some point, warriors fashioned shields from wood and, much later, from metal. Much of the information on early armor is largely a matter of conjecture. It wasn\u2019t until Homer wrote his epics, around 750 BCE, that there were detailed descriptions of shields, greaves<\/span><\/a>, helmets, and breastplates that provide insight into the archaic body armor of ancient Greece.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grecian Hoplite Armor<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

A hoplite was a type of heavily armed and armored foot-soldier in Greece. Hoplites fought for Greece in the 7<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> to 4<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> centuries BCE. Much of their protection came from a leather-lined bronze helmet. It safeguarded their head, neck, and face. A corselet (or breastplate), made of bronze or leather, shielded their torso. They would also wear bronze greaves for shin protection and would sometimes wear arm guards. <\/span><\/p>\n

Add a 30-inch-diameter shield made of wood and leather with a bronze facing and an 8-foot-long spear, along with a short sword, and these citizen-soldiers were carrying around 45 pounds of arms and armor. An incredible feat of physical endurance for soldiers moving on foot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Armor Of The Roman Empire<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Roman armor protected against projectiles such as spears, arrows, swords, and daggers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Roman soldiers of the B.C. and A.D. centuries had a clear advantage over their barbarian enemies, especially when it came to torso armor. While not all troops wore torso armor–light infantry, for instance, wore little or no armor to allow for quicker movement–for those who did wear it, there were several types in those early centuries. Here are two of the most common ones:<\/span><\/p>\n

Lorica Segmentata Armor<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

By the first century A.D., during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, lorica segmentata<\/span><\/a> armor had begun to replace previous styles. The new armor had greater flexibility, lighter weight, and was easier to manufacture. This style of armor consisted of four sections: two for the shoulders and two for the torso. They fastened the iron or steel that provided protection to the leather straps inside. The metal strips ran horizontally on the body and overlapped downwards. The armor surrounded the torso in two halves. The wearer fastened it at the front and back. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lorica Squamata Armor<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

The lorica squamata<\/span><\/a> was a type of scale armor used by Roman soldiers during both the Roman Republic (509 BC to 27 B.C.) and the Roman Empire.\u00a0 <\/span>It was made up of small iron or bronze scales wired to each other and fastened onto a backing fabric.\u00a0The thin scales overlapped in every direction, giving superior protection to the wearer. <\/span><\/p>\n

European Armor Of The Middle Ages<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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European plate armor reached the height of its popularity during\u00a0the late 15th and early 16th centuries.<\/p><\/div>\n

In medieval Europe, large plate armor would replace the hardened leather, chainmail, and thin plates of earlier centuries.\u00a0 <\/span>The development of larger bloomeries<\/span><\/a> in 14<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century Italy made it possible to produce large steel plates in one piece, and by 1400, a full harness of plate armor was being manufactured in the armories of Lombardy, Italy. <\/span><\/p>\n

During the Middle Ages, blacksmiths perfected the art of making carburized iron, which had a surface layer of steel, and these plates were virtually impenetrable. Not only that, but the plate armor required less labor to manufacture, so it became less expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n

They still used chainmail to protect the joint areas\u2014elbows, groin, and armpits\u2014since plates couldn\u2019t properly protect them. One of the biggest advantages of the plates was that a lance rest<\/span><\/a>, which allowed the mounted warrior to hold the lance firmly contained under his right arm, could be attached to the breastplate. But things were about to change.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chinese Alchemists Change Warfare<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

While conducting experiments on life-lengthening elixirs around 850 AD, Chinese alchemists instead discovered gunpowder. Not only would gunpowder make warfare very different, especially in the way battles were waged, but it would have a profound effect on the use and usefulness of body armor.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the Sung dynasty, the Chinese used their invention to fight their Mongol enemies. The Chinese lit an arrow affixed with a tube of gunpowder and fired it across enemy lines. This resulted in the term \u201cflying fire.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t until the 13th century, when traders along the silk trade route to Europe passed the science to Europe, that it became a factor in medieval battles.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the middle of the 14<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century, rudimentary cannons were common in the English and French militaries. The new weapon had the power to render the traditional walled fortifications of Europe, along with their body armor, weak and defenseless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heavily armored cavalry<\/span><\/a> had dominated the battlefield for centuries, but by the early 15<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century, developments in weaponry were now enabling infantry soldiers to defeat armored knights. Armor had to be thicker, which, in turn, required militaries breed larger cavalry horses. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not only were these horses compelled to carry the weight of their riders\u2019 armor, but many of them had their own protective armor, which was called barding<\/span><\/a>. While armor in the 14<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century weighed a little over 30 pounds, by the late 16<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century, it had increased to about 55 pounds. The extra thickness and weight gave it substantially more endurance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gunpowder, Muskets & The West<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n

The Chinese discovered gunpowder in the 9<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century, but it didn\u2019t make its way to the West until the 13<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> century. Eventually, this led to the development of the musket<\/span><\/a> in the early 1500s. At first, the traditional types of armor offered enough protection, even if they weren\u2019t one hundred percent projectile-proof. There were all sorts of melees that didn\u2019t involve muskets, so the body armor of the Medieval era hung around until about 1650.<\/span><\/p>\n

Decline In Popularity During The 1700s<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

Why didn’t armies wear body armor as much after 1650? <\/span>It probably had more to do with cost than any other reason. Up until the second half of the 17th century, mercenaries made up armies. Now, national armies replaced these mercenaries. The armies eventually grew to a point where expensive armor was no longer affordable to provide for the troops.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rationale became that soldiers were more likely to die from disease, artillery, or starvation than from a musket ball or bayonet. So, militaries abandoned traditional armor, not because it was ineffective, but because it wasn\u2019t effective enough to warrant the expense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Body Armor & The American Civil War<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Neither side considered body armor standard military equipment during the Civil War. Neither the Union nor the Confederacy issued armor to their troops. But that didn\u2019t stop several manufacturers from producing armor soon after the war began. One of them, the G&D Cook Company of New Haven, Conn., introduced body armor made with two steel plates<\/span><\/a> that were joined in the center and supported by hooks that were secured over the shoulders. A cloth waistcoat covered the steel plating and looked like a Union soldier\u2019s uniform.<\/span><\/p>\n

The armor vests produced by the Atwater Armor Company, Cook\u2019s competitor, used four attached steel plates<\/span><\/a>. Like the Cook model, two broad hooks secured the vest over the shoulders. There were belts at the waist to provide for a tighter fit. <\/span><\/p>\n

At first, armor sales were brisk. Soldiers believed advertisements proclaiming the resilience of their vests. However, the vests were heavy. The vests added ten pounds to the fifty pounds of standard equipment, and their value was limited. While some had stopped long-range bullets, most rounds fired at close range went clean through, taking remnants of the vest with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soldiers quickly became disillusioned with the heavy gear. On one occasion, a New Hampshire troop reportedly marched through Washington in October 1862, stopping near the White House. Having marched in heavy bulletproof vests from their home state, the fatigued men removed them and tossed them into the gutter. They declared they would rather face Southern bullets than carry the gear any farther.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ned Kelly’s Body Armor<\/h4>\n

In 1879, Australian outlaw Ned Kelly made news headlines throughout Australia and much of the world. He and other members of the Kelly gang created their own suits of body armor to battle the police. They created the armor from scrap metal and forged it together using crude blacksmithing techniques. Despite the armor, most of the Kelly gang died during the ill-fated siege against the police. Ned was later tried, convicted, and hanged by the neck until death.<\/p>\n

Body Armor During The World Wars<\/h2>\n
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Believe it or not, soldiers didn’t widely use body armor during WWI or WWII.<\/p><\/div>\n

World War I\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

When the First World War began in 1914, you could not find armor on the battlefield. It wasn\u2019t until late 1915 that British soldiers were issued steel helmets, but in that same year, the British Army designers introduced the Dayfield body shield<\/span><\/a>, a canvas jacket with layered metal plates.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1916, the German army came out with \u201cLobster\u201d armor<\/span><\/a> made of nickel and silicon plates.\u00a0While body armor was never universally issued by either side, soldiers’ families usually purchased and paid for it. And both sides used the captured armor of the enemy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, British troops used three main types of armor:<\/span><\/p>\n