A black armband is an armband that is coloured black to signify that the wearer is in mourning or wishes to identify with the commemoration of a family member or friend who has died.
In sport, especially association football, cricket, and Australian rules football, players will often wear black armbands following the death of a former player or manager.
The captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influence a game or has good leadership qualities. The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband. In the 2024/25 edition of the Laws of the Game, it was made mandatory for each team to have a captain and for each captain to be identified by the previously traditional but non-mandatory captain's armband.
A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank badges or other insignia are carried on it instead of being stitched into the actual clothing. The brassard, when spread out, may be roughly rectangular in shape, where it is worn merely around the arm; it may also be a roughly triangular shape, in which case the brassard is also attached to a shoulder strap. The term is originally French, deriving from bras meaning "arm".
Brassards are also used with the uniforms of organizations which are not military, but which are influenced by and styled upon the military, such as police, emergency services, volunteer services, or militaristic societies and political parties.