The varied faces of the lanyard
It is curious how the use of something can change over time.
Like the tailbone or the appendix, many things have survived
from the past that have lost all reasons to survive. Yet they do
survive, clueless dinosaurs from a previous age that have
adapted themselves to newer uses, becoming a croc or a lizard in
the process. The lanyard, that curious piece of string that pops
up in all places and comes attached with all sorts of things, is
one such remnant of a previous age.
It is uncertain as to when the first lanyard came up. And for
what purpose. Being basically a piece of string it could have
found some useful business in a previous day. Nor can it be said
with any conviction that its primary and first use were defined
in the army camps of pre-modern Europe. Chances are variants of
lanyard were used in other lands for other purposes - for
hanging sword, or a jacket, or tugging at the beard of a hard
taskmaster. However, firm claims as the inventor of this
ubiquitous piece of string comes from the army and the navy
only. The lanyard was originally a long piece of cord - around
one meter in length - that was used to secure the jack-knife or
the sword. The tradition developed of wearing the lanyard on the
left shoulder attached to a jack-knife which was tucked into the
left breast-pocket. The color and the position (left shoulder or
right) have changed from this to that but the lanyard has
maintained its ornamental position on the breasts of military
men for the last many centuries - from tin-pot dictators in the
interiors of Africa to stocky four-star Generals in US Army,
from pretentious royal princes in funny dresses to fake
presidents in Amazon jungles. Other sources maintain that the
lanyard was first used to tie the fodder for the horses pulling
the cannons. Later, its use deviated to pulling the fire-trigger
on the artillery, a use that continues to this day in some older
systems. With its expertise with ropes and knots, the navy says
the lanyard was its invention. Curiously, in the navy too it
ended up at the same place - a sort of collar for the shoulder
for the men in uniform. Various uses of the lanyard were devised
within the camps. Some used it to tie their sabers to their
wrists allowing them to fire the pistol with the same hand - the
word dragoon, French in origin, derives from this usage. Later
on when pistols became standard issue, the pistol was attached
to the uniform with the lanyard. Everywhere we find that the
lanyard stayed close to the main object of the profession of the
men in uniform.
Times have changed. The adage that sounded hollow a few years
back - that the pen is mightier than the sword - has fought back
in favor of the wielder of intellectual resources. Today, the
lanyard is seen more in the company of civilians than in the
company of the men in uniform. The lanyard comes attached to the
pen, the torch, the knife, the badge, the whistle and what not.
As consumer gadgets get more miniaturized, everything from cell
phones to iPods and digicams gain the hallowed company of the
lanyard. It is a sign of the changing times that the most
empowering devices (phones and cameras) are now associated with
something that was similarly the companion of symbols of
empowerment yesterday (swords and guns).
Not to be left behind, the metaphor of empowerment is sought by
charitable causes. MakePovertyHistory, the international
campaign to end extreme poverty around the world, has chosen the
humble lanyard as a symbol of sympathy with the just cause of
liberation from oppression. As the official website itself adds:
"By supporting Make Poverty History we can prove our role as
liberators but not in a way that is painful and boring but
exciting and new!". The lanyard can hold the keys to liberation
and it "also doubles as a mob
ile phone holder!". There you have it - empowerment from the
humblest of sources.