A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, draping from left shoulder to right hip (or right shoulder to left hip) or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, but the sash from shoulder to hip is worn on ceremonial occasions only. Ceremonial sashes are also found in a V-shaped format, draping from both shoulders to the stomach like a large necklace.
Military and official use 
Sashes traditionally form part of formal military attire (compare the sword-belt known as a baldric, and the cummerbund). Most of the European Royal families wear sashes as a part of their royal (and/or military) regalia. Some orders such as the Légion d'honneur include sashes as part of the seniormost grades' insignia. In Latin America and some countries of Africa, a special presidential sash indicates a president's authority. In France and Italy, sashes, featuring the national flag tricolours and worn on the right shoulder, are used by public authorities and local officials; likewise Italian military officers wear light blue sashes over the right shoulder on ceremonial occasions.
Sashes are a distinctive feature of some regiments of the modern French Army for parade dress. They are worn around the waist in either dark blue or red by corps such as the Foreign Legion, the Spahis, the Chasseurs d' Afrique and the Tirailleurs which were originally raised in North Africa during the period of French colonial rule. In its traditional Franco-Algerian or zouave form the sash ("ceinture de laine") was four metres in length and forty centimetres in width. In the historic French Army of Africa, sashes were worn around the waist in either blue for European or red for indigenous troops.
At the time of the American Civil War (1861–65) silk sashes in crimson were authorized for officers and red woolen sashes for non-commissioned officers of the regular US Army (Army Regulations of 1861). U.S. Generals continued to wear buff silk sashes in full dress until 1917. In the Confederate Army of the Civil War period sash colour indicated the corps or status of the wearer. For example: gold for cavalry, burgundy for infantry, black for chaplains, red for sergeants, green or blue for medics, and grey or cream for general officers.
The modern British Army retains a scarlet sash for wear in certain orders of dress by sergeants and above serving in infantry regiments, over the right shoulder to the left hip. A similar crimson silk net sash is worn around the waist by officers of the Foot Guards in scarlet full dress and officers of line infantry in dark blue "Number 1" dress. The same practice is followed in some Commonwealth armies.
The present day armies of India and Pakistan both make extensive use of waist sashes for ceremonial wear. The colours vary widely according to regiment or branch and match those of the turbans where worn. Typically two or more colours are incorporated in the sash, in vertical stripes. One end hangs loose at the side and may have an ornamental fringe. The practice of wearing distinctive regimental sashes or cummerbunds goes back to the late nineteenth century.
In addition to those detailed above, several other modern armies retain sashes for wear by officers in ceremonial uniforms. These include the armies of Norway (crimson sashes), Sweden (yellow and blue), Greece (light blue and white), the Netherlands (orange), Portugal (crimson) and Spain (red and gold for generals, light blue for general staff and crimson for infantry officers). The Spanish Regulares (infantry descended from colonial regiments formerly recruited in Spanish Morocco) retain their historic waist-sashes for all ranks in colours that vary according to the unit.
Until 1914 sashes were worn as a peace-time mark of rank by officers of the Imperial German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies, amongst others. Japanese officers continued the practice in full dress uniform until 1940.
Cross-belts resembling sashes are worn by Drum Majors in the Dutch, British and some Commonwealth armies. These carry scrolls bearing the names of battle honours.
Modern civilian and cultural use 
In the United States, the sash has picked up a more ceremonial and less practical purpose. Sashes are used at higher education commencement ceremonies, by high school homecoming parade nominees, in beauty pageants, as well as by corporations to acknowledge high achievement.
In Canada, hand woven sashes (called ceintures fléchées and sometimes "L'Assumption sash" after a town in which they were mass produced) were derived from Iroquoiuan carrying belts sometime in the 18th century. As a powerful multi-use tool this sash found use in the fur trade which brought it into the North West. In this period the weave got tighter and size expanded, with some examples more than four metres in length. Coloured thread was widely used. Today it is considered to be primarily a symbol of the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion Patriotes and the Métis peoples.
In Ireland, especially Northern Ireland, the sash is a symbol of the Orange Order. Orange Order sashes were originally of the ceremonial shoulder-to-hip variety as worn by the British military. Over the 20th century the sash has been mostly replaced by V-shaped collarettes, which are still generally referred to as sashes. The item is celebrated in the song 'The Sash my Father Wore'.
Sashes are also worn by Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Beauty Pageant Participants. Badges are sewn onto the sash, to indicate achievements of the Scout.
Many modern schools of Chinese martial arts use sashes of various colors to denote rank as a reflection of the Japanese ranking system using belts.
Honorific orders 
Sashes are indicative of holding the class of Grand Cross or Grand Cordon in an Order of Chivalry or Order of Merit. The sash is usually worn from the right shoulder to the left hip. A few orders do the contrary, according to their traditional statute.
Orders with the sash worn on the left shoulder 
- Denmark : Order of the Elephant
- Iceland : Order of the Falcon 
- Kingdom of Serbia : Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)
- United Kingdom : Order of the Garter
- United Kingdom (Scotland) : Order of the Thistle 
- Malaysia : Darjah Kerabat Diraja Malaysia (Order of the Royal House of Malaysia)
- Malaysia : Darjah Utama Seri Mahkota Negara (Order of the Crown of the Realm) 
- South Korea : Grand Order of Mugunghwa
- Thailand : Order of the Royal House of Chakri 
- Thailand : Order of Chula Chom Klao 
- Thailand : Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) on left shoulder but Knight Grand Cross (First Class) : right shoulder, for :
Classified examples of current orders' sash 
|Colours classified in
the order of the rainbow :
See also 
- Andre Jouineau, pages 45-63, "The French Army in 1914", ISBN978-2-35250
- Fredrick Todd Col USAR Cadet Gray page 40
- West Point Band
- John Gaylor, "Sons of John Company - the Indian and Pakistan Armies", ISBN 0-946771-98-7
- Rinaldo D'Ami, "World Uniforms in Colour - the European Nations", ISBN 85059-031-0
- José Bueno, Ejército Español, Uniformes Contemporáneos",ISBN 84-7140-186-X
- Ritta Nakanishi, "Japanese Military Uniforms 1930-1945, 1991 Dai Nippon Kaiga
- Photo, King Albert II of Belgium, Queen Sofia of Spain and Queen Paola of Belgium wearing the order
- Royal Swedish Family during a State visit in Iceland
- "Noblesse et Royautés" blog, Victoria of Sweden's wedding, June 2010, Prince Alexander wearing it on left shoulder
- Photo of Princess Anne wearing the Thistle at King Harald V's 70th birthday in 02/2007
- "Noblesse et Royautés", article showing photos of guests invited to Prince William's wedding. A photo shows the king wearing it on the left shoulder
- Photo on a royal news forum showing the King and Queen of Sweden wearing it on left shoulder
- South Korea's honour System, click on "Methods of Wear"
- Royal Cabinet Website
- Royal Cabinet Website
- State visit of Sweden in Thailand, 2003, Gala dinner
- Royal Cabinet Website
- Royal Cabinet Website
- Craig, John (1849), A new universal etymological technological, and pronouncing dictionary of the English language, p. 620