Beard

A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck, but not the upper lip, typically of men. Usually, only males going through puberty or post-pubescent males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard. When differentiating between upper and lower facial hair, a beard specifically refers to the facial hair on the lower part of a man's chin (excluding the moustache, which refers to hair above the upper lip and around it). The study of beards is called pogonology.

In the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom and knowledge, sexual virility, masculinity, or high social status; and, conversely, filthiness, crudeness, or an eccentric disposition.

Biology

The beard develops during puberty. Beard growth is linked to stimulation of hair follicles in the area by dihydrotestosterone, which continues to affect beard growth after puberty. Hair follicles from different areas vary in what hormones they are stimulated or inhibited by; dihydrotestostorone also promotes balding. Dihydrotestosterone is produced from testosterone, the levels of which vary with season; thus beards grow faster in summer. How fast the beard grows is also genetic. ^[1]

History

Ancient and classical world

Moche ceramic vessels representing bearded men. Larco Museum Collection. Lima-Peru

The highest ranking Ancient Egyptians grew hair on their chins which was often dyed or hennaed (reddish brown) and sometimes plaited with interwoven gold thread. A metal false beard, or postiche, which was a sign of sovereignty, was worn by queens, kings and sometimes cows. This was held in place by a ribbon tied over the head and attached to a gold chin strap, a fashion existing from about 3000 to 1580 BC.

Mesopotamian civilizations (Sumerian, Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans and Medians) devoted great care to oiling and dressing their beards, using tongs and curling irons to create elaborate ringlets and tiered patterns.

The Persians were fond of long beards. In Olearius' Travels, a King of Persia commands his steward's head to be cut off, and on its being brought to him, remarks, "what a pity it was, that a man possessing such fine mustachios, should have been executed."^{[citation needed]}

Ancient India

In ancient India, the beard was allowed to grow long, a symbol of dignity and of wisdom (cf. sadhu). The nations in the east generally treated their beards with great care and veneration, and the punishment for licentiousness and adultery was to have the beard of the offending parties publicly cut off. They had such a sacred regard for the preservation of their beards that a man might pledge it for the payment of a debt.

Ancient Greece

A coin depicting a cleanly-shaven Alexander the Great

The ancient Greeks regarded the beard as a badge or sign of virility; in the Homeric epics it had almost sanctified significance, so that a common form of entreaty was to touch the beard of the person addressed.^[2] It was only shaven as a sign of mourning, though in this case it was instead often left untrimmed. A smooth face was regarded as a sign of effeminacy.^[3] The Spartans punished cowards by shaving off a portion of their beards. From the earliest times, however, the shaving of the upper lip was not uncommon. Greek beards were also frequently curled with tongs. In the time of Alexander the Great the custom of smooth shaving was introduced.^[4] Reportedly, Alexander ordered his soldiers to be clean shaven, fearing that their beards would serve as handles for their enemies to grab and to hold the soldier as he was killed. The practice of shaving spread from the Macedonians, whose kings are represented on coins, etc. with smooth faces, throughout the whole known world of the Macedonian Empire. Laws were passed against it, without effect, at Rhodes and Byzantium; and even Aristotle conformed to the new custom,^[5] unlike the other philosophers, who retained the beard as a badge of their profession. A man with a beard after the Macedonian period implied a philosopher,^[6] and there are many allusions to this custom of the later philosophers in such proverbs as: "The beard does not make the sage."^[7]

Ancient Rome

Shaving seems to have not been known to the Romans during their early history (under the Kings of Rome and the early Republic). Pliny tells us that P. Ticinius was the first who brought a barber to Rome, which was in the 454th year from the founding of the city (that is, around 299 BC). Scipio Africanus was apparently the first among the Romans who shaved his beard. However, after that point, shaving seems to have caught on very quickly, and soon almost all Roman men were clean-shaven; being clean-shaven became a sign of being Roman and not Greek. Only in the later times of the Republic did the Roman youth begin shaving their beards only partially, trimming it into an ornamental form; prepubescent boys oiled their chins in hopes of forcing premature growth of a beard.^[8]

Still, beards remained rare among the Romans throughout the Late Republic and the early Principate. In a general way, in Rome at this time, a long beard was considered a mark of slovenliness and squalor. The censors L. Veturius and P. Licinius compelled M. Livius, who had been banished, on his restoration to the city, to be shaved, and to lay aside his dirty appearance, and then, but not until then, to come into the Senate.^[9] The first occasion of shaving was regarded as the beginning of manhood, and the day on which this took place was celebrated as a festival.^[10] Usually, this was done when the young Roman assumed the toga virilis. Augustus did it in his twenty-fourth year, Caligula in his twentieth. The hair cut off on such occasions was consecrated to a god. Thus Nero put his into a golden box set with pearls, and dedicated it to Jupiter Capitolinus.^[11] The Romans, unlike the Greeks, let their beards grow in time of mourning; so did Augustus for the death of Julius Caesar.^[12] Other occasions of mourning on which the beard was allowed to grow were, appearance as a reus, condemnation, or some public calamity. On the other hand, men of the country areas around Rome in the time of Varro seem not to have shaved except when they came to market every eighth day, so that their usual appearance was most likely a short stubble.^[13]

In the second century AD the Emperor Hadrian, according to Dion Cassius, was the first of all the Caesars to grow a beard; Plutarch says that he did it to hide scars on his face. This was a period in Rome of widespread imitation of Greek culture, and many other men grew beards in imitation of Hadrian and the Greek fashion. Until the time of Constantine the Great the emperors appear in busts and coins with beards; but Constantine and his successors to the end of the sixth century, with the exception of Julian, are represented as beardless.

Celts and Germanic tribes

Late Hellenistic sculptures of Celts^[14] portray them with long hair and mustaches but beardless.

Tacitus states that among the Catti, a Germanic tribe (perhaps the Chatten), a young man was not allowed to shave or cut his hair until he had slain an enemy. The Lombards derived their fame from the great length of their beards (Longobards - Long Beards - Langbärte). When Otto the Great said anything serious, he swore by his beard, which covered his breast.

Middle ages

In the Middle Ages,the beard was one of the sites of a knight's virility and honour. The Castilian knight El Cid is described in The Lay of the Cid as "the one with the flowery beard". Holding somebody else's beard was a serious offence that had to be righted in a duel.

From the Renaissance to the present day

Friedrich Engels exhibiting a full moustache and beard that was a common style among Europeans of the nineteenth century

In the 15th century, most European men were clean-shaven. Sixteenth century beards were suffered to grow to an amazing length (see the portraits of John Knox, Bishop Gardiner and Thomas Cranmer). Some beards of this time were the Spanish spade beard, the English square cut beard, the forked beard, and the stiletto beard. In 1587 Francis Drake claimed, in a figure of speech, to have singed the King of Spain's beard.

Strangely, this trend was especially marked during Queen Mary's reign, a time of reaction against Protestant reform (Cardinal Pole's beard is a good example).

In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia ordered men to shave off their beards, and in 1705 levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporary Western Europe.^[15]

Throughout the 18th century beards were unknown among most parts of Western society, especially the nobility and upper classes.

Beards returned strongly to fashion during the Napoleonic Era. Veterans of the French Emperor's Army were known as "Vieilles Moustaches" (Old Moustaches), while greener conscripts were forbidden to grow them, thus making them especially coveted and prestigious. Throughout the nineteenth century facial hair (beards, along with long sideburns and moustaches) was more common than not. Many male European monarchs were bearded (e.g. Alexander III of Russia, Napoleon III of France, Frederick III of Germany), as were many of the leading statesmen and cultural figures (e.g. Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Karl Marx, and Giuseppe Verdi). The stereotypical Victorian male figure in the popular mind remains a stern figure clothed in black whose gravitas is added to by a heavy beard (or long sideburns). However, in the early twentieth century beards started a slow decline in popularity, while some prominent figures retained them (like Sigmund Freud, albeit severely shortened from the fashion of prior decades) most men which in the 20s and 30s still retained facial hair limited it to the moustache or a goatee (Marcel Proust, Albert Einstein, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin)

Beards, together with long hair, were reintroduced to mainstream society in Western Europe and the Americas by the hippie movement of the mid 1960s. By the end of the 20th century, the closely clipped Verdi beard, often with a matching integrated moustache, had become relatively common.

In the United States

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, beards were rare in the United States. However, they had become prevalent by the mid-nineteenth century. Up to and following the American Civil War, many famous heroes and General officers had significant beards. A sign of the shift was to be observed in occupants of the Presidency: before Abraham Lincoln, no President had a beard; after Lincoln until William Howard Taft, every President except Andrew Johnson and William McKinley had either a beard or a moustache. The beard's loss of popularity since its nineteenth century heyday is shown by the fact that after this brief "golden age", no President has worn a full beard since Benjamin Harrison, and no President has worn any facial hair at all since William H. Taft. Rutherford B. Hayes was said to be the president with the longest beard of any U.S. President.

Following World War I, beards fell out of vogue. There are several theories as to why the military began shaving beards. When World War I broke out in the 1910s, the use of chemical weapons necessitated that soldiers shave their beards so that gas masks could seal over their faces. The enlistment of military recruits for World War I in 1914 precipitated a major migration of men from rural to urban locales. This was the largest such migration that had ever occurred in the United States up to that time. The sudden concentration of recruits in crowded army induction centers brought with it disease, including head lice. Remedial action was taken by immediately shaving the faces and cutting the hair of all inductees upon their arrival.

When the war concluded in 1918 the "Doughboys" returned to a hero's welcome. During this time period the Film Industry was coming into its own and "going to the movies" became a popular pastime. Due to the recent Armistice many of the films had themes related to World War I. These popular films featured actors who portrayed soldiers with their clean shaven faces and "crew cuts". Concurrently, the psychological mass marketing of Madison Avenue was becoming prevalent. The Gillette Safety Razor Company was one of these marketers' early clients. These events conspired to popularize short hair and clean shaven faces as the only acceptable style for decades to come.

From the 1920s to the early 1960s, beards were virtually nonexistent in mainstream America. The few men who wore the beard or portions of the beard during this period were frequently either old, Central Europeans; members of a religious sect that required it; in academia; or part of the counterculture, such as the "beatniks".

Following the Vietnam War, beards exploded in popularity. In the mid-late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, beards were worn by hippies and businessmen alike. Popular rock, soul and folk musicians like The Beatles, Barry White and the male members of Peter, Paul, and Mary wore full beards. The trend of seemingly ubiquitous beards in American culture subsided in the mid 1980s.

From the 1990s onward, the fashion in beards has generally trended toward either a goatee, Van Dyke, or a closely cropped full beard undercut on the throat. By 2010, the fashionable length approached a "two-day shadow".^[16]

One stratum of American society where facial hair is virtually nonexistent is in government and politics. The last President of the United States to wear any type of facial hair was William Howard Taft, who was in office from 1909 till 1913. The last Vice President of the United States to wear any facial hair was Charles Curtis, who was in office from 1929 till 1933.

Beards in religion

Beards also play an important role in some religions.

In Greek mythology and art Zeus and Poseidon are always portrayed with beards, but Apollo never is. A bearded Hermes was replaced with the more familiar beardless youth in the 5th century B.C.

Sikhism

File:Hargobind Singh.jpg

Sri Guru Har Gobind ji and servants with full beards

Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, ordained and established the keeping of unshorn hair as part of the identity and one of the insignia of Sikhs. Sikhs consider the beard to be part of the nobility and dignity of their manhood. Kesh is also one of the Five Ks for a baptised Sikh.

Hinduism

Hindus keep beards depending on which Dharma they follow^{[citation needed]}. Many Hindu priests are unshaven as a sign of purity^{[citation needed]}. The ancient text followed regarding beards depends on the Deva and other teachings, varying according to whom the devotee worships or follows. Most original idols lack moustaches, except for the Rakshasa and Asuras, who are considered to be bad or power-seeking. Many Sadhus, Yogis, or Yoga practitioners keep beards, and represent all situations of life. Shaivite ascetics generally have beards, as they are not permitted to own anything, which would include a razor. The beard is also a sign of a nomadic and ascetic lifestyle.

Vaishnava men, typically of the ISKCON sect, are encouraged to be clean-shaven as a sign of cleanliness. Vaishnavas of the Gaudiya tradition on the other hand generally keep beards and a shaven head (except a small tail called a shikha).

Judaism

The Bible states in Leviticus 19:27 that "You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard." Talmudic tradition explains this to mean that a man may not shave his beard with a razor with a single blade, since the cutting action of the blade against the skin "mars" the beard. Because scissors have two blades, some opinions in halakha (Jewish law) permit their use to trim the beard, as the cutting action comes from contact of the two blades and not the blade against the skin. For this reason, most poskim (Jewish legal deciders) rule that Orthodox Jews may use electric razors to remain cleanshaven, as such shavers cut by trapping the hair between the blades and the metal grating, halakhically a scissor-like action. Some prominent contemporary poskim^[who?] maintain that electric shavers constitute a razor-like action and consequently prohibit their use.

The Zohar, one of the primary sources of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), attributes holiness to the beard, specifying that hairs of the beard symbolize channels of subconscious holy energy that flows from above to the human soul. Therefore, most Hasidic Jews, for whom Kabbalah plays an important role in their religious practice, traditionally do not remove or even trim their beards.

Also, some Jews refrain from shaving during the 30-day mourning period after the death of a close relative, known in Hebrew as the Shloshim (thirty) as well as during periods of the Counting of the Omer and the Three Weeks.

Islam

File:Ali Sistani.jpg

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani with a long beard

The Prophet Muhammad encouraged growing a beard, and it is said by those who promote it strongly that all the prophets have had one. Trimming the mustaches is one of the fitra.^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23] Among those who view it as a sunnah, they may argue that it has an equivalent status to the nine other acts of fitrah, of the saḥīḥ aḥādīth about the ten acts of fitrah, which are recognized to be sunnah among many scholars. They might also say that late Shafi`i scholars came to the position that the beard is a sunnah, which would have had a precedent among the classical scholars within the Shafi Madh'hab, such as Al-Ghazali as well as Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i himself in his earlier work of fiqh, as noted in al-Risala. Shafi however changed his position later in his life, as noted in his work al-Umm,. All Muslim scholars view keeping a beard as being at least commendable for men as it follows the example of Muhammad, and some consider it obligatory.^[24] The Shafi`i school of Islamic law is more lenient with the beard but still considers that the minimum beard a person should keep without being sinful is a goatee. Other schools of law are not as lenient.^[25] Regardless of either view, Muslim men who shave are still allowed to do things such as being an imam and leading prayer.^[25] According to the minority view that keeping a beard is compulsory, a man who shaves is considered sinful, but being sinful does not exclude one from actions such as leading the prayer.^[24]^[25]

In the Islamic tradition, God commanded Abraham to keep his beard, shorten his moustache, clip his nails, shave the hair around his genitals, and pluck his armpit hair.^[26]

However, some sects like the Twelver Shi'a sect prohibit clean-shaving the male's beard but do allow trimming. This varies from one Marja to another, hence a person must review the marja's publishings first.

Christianity

Jesus is almost always portrayed with a beard in iconography and art dating from the 4th century onward. In paintings and statues most of the Old Testament Biblical characters such as Moses and Abraham and Jesus' New Testament disciples such as St Peter are with beard, as was John the Baptist. John the Apostle is generally depicted as clean-shaven in Western European art, however, to emphasize his relative youth. Eight of the figures portrayed in the painting entitled The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci are bearded. Mainstream Christianity holds Isaiah Chapter 50: Verse 6 as a prophecy of Christ's crucifixion, and as so, as a description of Christ having his beard plucked by his tormentors.

In Eastern Christianity, beards are often worn by members of the priesthood and by monastics, and at times have been required for all believers; see Old Believers. Amish and Hutterite men shave until they are married, then grow a beard and are never thereafter without one, although it is a particular form of a beard (see Visual markers of marital status). Many Syrian Christians from Kerala in India wore long beards.

Nowadays, members of many Catholic religious communities, mainly those of Franciscan origin, use a beard as a sign of their vocation. At various times in its history the Catholic Church permitted and prohibited facial hair.^[27] Some Messianic Jews also wear beards to show their observance of the Old Testament.

Diarmaid MacCulloch writes:^[28] "There is no doubt that Cranmer mourned the dead king (Henry VIII)", and it was said that he showed his grief by growing a beard. But "it was a break from the past for a clergyman to abandon his clean-shaven appearance which was the norm for late medieval priesthood; with Luther providing a precedent, virtually all the continental reformers had deliberately grown beards as a mark of their rejection of the old church, and the significance of clerical beards as an aggressive anti-Catholic gesture was well recognised in mid-Tudor England."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Modern Mormon men are strongly encouraged to be clean shaven. Formal prohibitions against facial hair are given to young men entering their two-year mission service. Those entering the church-sponsored universities are asked to adhere to the Church Educational System Honor Code, which states in part: "Men are expected to be clean-shaven; beards are not acceptable."

Rastafari Movement

A male Rastafarian's beard is a sign of his pact with God (Jah or Jehovah), and his Bible is his source of knowledge. Leviticus 21:5 ("They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.") Likewise, it is not uncommon for a Rastafarian beard to grow uncombed, like dreadlocks.

Taoism

Mystics and priests in Taoist practices also grow their beards and hair, but always have the latter tied in a knot or tail.

Modern prohibition of beards

Civilian prohibitions

Professional airline pilots are required to be clean shaven to facilitate a tight seal with auxiliary oxygen masks^{[citation needed]}. Similarly, fire fighters may also be prohibited from full beards to obtain a proper seal with SCBA equipment^{[citation needed]}.

Isezaki city in Gunma prefecture, Japan, decided to ban beards for male municipal employees on June 19, 2010^{[citation needed]}.

Sports

Today, for practical reasons^{[clarification needed]} (with some exceptions), it is illegal^{[citation needed]} for amateur boxers to have beards. As a safety precaution, high school wrestlers must be clean-shaven before each match, though neatly trimmed moustaches are often allowed.

The Cincinnati Reds, the oldest existing team in Major League Baseball, had a longstanding enforced policy where all players had to be completely clean shaven (no beards, long sideburns or moustaches). However, this policy was abolished following the sale of the team by Marge Schott in 1999.

Under owner George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees baseball team has had a strict dress code that forbids long hair and facial hair below the lip. More recently, Willie Randolph and Joe Girardi, both former Yankee assistant coaches, adopted a similar clean-shaven policy for their ballclubs: the New York Mets and Florida Marlins, respectively. Fredi Gonzalez, who replaced Girardi as the Marlins' manager, dropped that policy when he took over after the 2006 season. Girardi is now the manager of the Yankees.

Playoff beard is a tradition common on teams in the National Hockey League and now in other leagues where players allow their beards to grow from the beginning of the playoff season until the playoffs are over for their team.

Armed forces

Asia

India

In the armed forces of India, only Sikhs are allowed to wear beards as their religion expressly requires followers to do so. And they are required to keep it neatly tied in a hairnet. This is allowed to respect their religious expression since wearing a beard is an essential prerequiste for a Sikh. Sikhs are generally considered a martial clan and wearing a beard is also a part of their religious obligation.

Exceptions for other religions are made in case of under-cover special forces operatives like army commandos(Para SF) and navy commandos (MARCOS) who are allowed to grow beards.^[29]

Navy personnel are allowed to grow beards subject to the permission of the respective Commanding Officer.^[30]

Regular army on active duty are sometimes exempt from the facial-hair regulations for the duration of their 'tour' if their task makes access to such facilities difficult.

Iran

Beards are permitted in most branches and units of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Takavaran (Iranian Marines) must be clean shaven.

Israel

The IDF generally allows only full or French beards. A special request form must be filed, which is valid for no more than a single year, after which it has to be renewed.

Lebanon

Beards are not allowed in the Lebanese Armed Forces. Only trimmed mustaches that do not pass the upper lip are allowed.

Turkey

Although moustaches are very common among Turkish men, according to the Internal Service Law active personnel are not allowed to grow beards.

Europe

Austria

The Austrian Armed Forces permits moustaches and sideburns, as long as they are neatly trimmed.

Denmark

Danish Army personnel are generally allowed to wear any well kept beard. Stubble, however, is not allowed. Full beards are popular among units deployed in Afghanistan, as it is easier to maintain when in the field. This also helps break down cultural barriers between the Danish and the Afghans, as most Afghan men wear full beards. As an exception, soldiers who belong to Den Kongelige Livgarde (The Royal Life Guards) are not allowed to have beards when on guard duty. Additionally, Danish soldiers are not required to have short haircuts. Long hair among male soldiers is rare, however, as it is not seen as "proper" by most soldiers.

Finland

The regulations of the Finnish Defence Forces (Rule 91) prohibit the growing of a moustache or a beard.^[31]

France

The sappers ("*sapeurs*") of the French Foreign Legion traditionally feature large beards.

Since the Napoleonic era and throughout the nineteenth century, sappers of the French Army had to wear full beards. Grenadiers (and other élite troops) had to wear moustaches; chasseurs were asked to wear Van Dyke beards; and Hussars usually wore braids to protect their neck from sword slashes.^[32] These traditions were gradually abandoned in the twentieth century, except for the French Foreign Legion sappers (see below).

The "decree N° 75-675 regarding regulations for general discipline in the Armies of 28 July 1975, modified"^[33] regulates facial hair in the French armed forces. Military personnel are allowed to grow a beard or moustache only during periods when they are out of uniform. The beard must be "correctly trimmed", and provisions are stated for a possible ban of beards by the military authorities to ensure compatibility with certain equipment.

However, within the Foreign Legion, sappers (combat engineers) are traditionally encouraged to grow a large beard. Sappers chosen to participate in the Bastille Day parade are in fact specifically asked to stop shaving so they will have a full beard when they march down the Champs-Élysées.

The moustache was an obligation for gendarmes until 1933. By tradition, some gendarmes may still grow a moustache.

Submariners may be bearded, clean-shaved, or "patrol-bearded", growing a beard for the time of a patrol in reminiscence of the time of diesel submarines whose cramped space allowed for rustic and minimal personal care.

Germany

The present-day regulations of the German Federal Defence Forces allow soldiers to grow a beard, on condition that it be trimmed, unobtrusive and well-kept. Beards must not impact the proper use of any military equipment. Moreover, stubble may not be shown; thus a clean-shaven soldier who wants to start growing a beard must do so during his furlough.

According to German military tradition, soldiers should not have beards, only moustaches. Therefore this form of facial hair is still the only one allowed to members of the so-called Wachbataillon (Guard Battalion), which is deployed for solely protocol-related duties. Likewise, superior officers are rarely seen with large beards.

Greece

In the Greek armed forces, it is allowed to wear a beard only in the navy. Neatly trimmed mustaches are the only facial hair permitted in the army.

Italy

In the Italian armed forces, it is allowed to wear a beard only if during enrollment, the original photograph was taken with one. In the various branches of Police, no specific law is in force, and also a stubble is permitted although not for ceremonial occasions.

Netherlands

In the Royal Netherlands Army, officers and soldiers may only grow beards after permission has been obtained. As in many other armies, medical conditions can mean automatic permission to grow one and not shave. Moustaches may be grown without asking permission. Beards are worn at times by the Royal Netherlands Marines and by Royal Netherlands Navy personnel. All facial hair in the Netherlands armed forces is subject to instant removal when operational circumstances demand it. Recent operations in Afghanistan under the ISAF have seen a trend of growing "tour beards", both for bonding and as a way of advancing contacts with the Afghan population, who regard a full beard as a sign of manhood. A beard without a moustache is uncommon in the Netherlands.

Norway

The Royal Guard is required to be clean-shaven. Most operative personnel are not allowed to wear them (so as not to interfere with gas masks) unless:

The soldier obtains express permission to grow his beard from a high-ranking officer.
The soldier already has a beard upon his enlistment and requests to continue growing it or maintain it at its present length.

Spain

The Spanish Legion allows beards to be grown.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the Royal Navy allows "full sets" (beards and moustaches together) but not beards or moustaches alone. The other British armed services allow moustaches only. Exceptions are beards grown for religious reasons (usually by Sikhs or Muslims), though in the event of conflict in which the use of chemical or biological weapons is likely, they may be required to shave a strip around the seal of a respirator. Beards are also permitted for medical reasons, such as temporary skin irritations, or by infantry pioneer warrant officers, colour sergeants and sergeants, who traditionally wear beards. Any style of facial hair is allowed in British police forces as long as it is neatly trimmed. Beards are also permitted by special forces when not on base, i.e. covert intelligence operations or behind enemy lines.

More recently the British Army has been seen sporting a full range of stubble, moustache and beard in Afghanistan in an effort to blend in. One in ten soldiers now has some sort of facial hair.^[34]

North America

Canada

The Canadian Forces permits moustaches, provided they be neatly trimmed and do not pass beyond the corners of the mouth; an exception to this is the handlebar moustache, which is permitted. Generally speaking, beards are not permitted to CF personnel with the following exceptions:

Members wearing the naval uniform ashore (tradition); sea-going personnel must now shave daily.
Members of an infantry pioneer platoon (tradition)
Members who must maintain a beard due to religious requirements (Muslims, Sikhs or orthodox Jews, for example)
Members with a medical condition which precludes shaving

These exceptions notwithstanding, in no case is a beard permitted without a moustache, and only full beards may be worn (not goatees, van dykes, etc.).

Personnel with beards may still be required to modify or shave off the beard, as environmental or tactical circumstances dictate (e.g., to facilitate the wearing of a gas mask).

Beards are also allowed to be worn by personnel conducting OPFOR duties.

United States

The U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps justify banning beards on the basis of both hygiene and of the necessity for a good seal with gas masks. The U.S. Navy did allow beards for a time in the 1970s and 1980s, following a directive from Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr., but subsequently banned them again. The U.S. Coast Guard allowed beards until 1986, when they were banned by the Commandant, Admiral Paul Yost. The vast majority of police forces across the United States still ban beards. However, moustaches are generally allowed in both the military and police forces (except for those undergoing basic training). U.S. Army Special Forces and other U.S. Special Operation Forces have been allowed to wear beards in Afghanistan, and other middle-eastern countries, in order to better fit in with the indigenous population.

Officers of the U.S. Public Health Service were permitted to wear neatly-trimmed beards until that policy was changed in 2008. The justification for the change was the need to be able to have a close fit for respirators. The change was made in the context of a move in uniform regulations to more closely mirror those of the Navy.

Also, those with pseudofolliculitis barbae or severe acne are allowed to maintain neatly trimmed beards with a doctor's or medic's permission.

Australia

In the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force beards are not permitted, however, neatly trimmed moustaches and sideburns are allowed. In some circumstances for medical or religious reasons beards may be permitted.

In the Royal Australian Navy, members may grown a beard but only with approval from their Commanding Officer.

Brazil

The Brazilian Army, Brazilian Navy and Brazilian Air Force permit moustaches, as long as they are trimmed to just above the upper lip. Recruits, however, cannot wear moustaches. Beards are not allowed unless required for some special reason, such as covering a deformity. In such cases, a beard is permitted under authorization.^[35]

Styles

File:Silas Kitto Hocking.jpg

Silas Kitto Hocking, bearded

Beard hair is most commonly removed by shaving. If only the area above the upper lip is left unshaven, the resulting facial hairstyle is known as a moustache; if hair is left only on the chin, the style is a chin beard. The combination of a moustache and a chin beard is a goatee or Van Dyke, unless the moustache and chin beard are connected, in which case it is known as a circle beard.^{[citation needed]}

Full – downward flowing beard with either styled or integrated moustache
Sideburns – hair grown from the temples down the cheeks toward the jawline. Sometimes with a moustache.
Chinstrap – a beard with long sideburns that comes forward and ends under the chin, resembling a chinstrap, hence the name.
Donegal – similar to the chinstrap beard but covers the entire chin.
Garibaldi – wide, full beard with rounded bottom and integrated moustache
Goatee – A tuft of hair grown on the chin, sometimes resembling a billy goat's.
Junco – A goatee which extends upward and connects to the corners of the mouth.
Hollywoodian- A beard with integrated mustache that is worn on the lower part of the chin and jaw area, without connecting sideburns.
Reed – A beard with integrated mustache that is worn on the lower part of the chin and jaw area that tapers towards the ears without connecting sideburns.
Royale – is a narrow pointed beard extending from the chin. The style was popular in France during the period of the Second Empire, from which it gets its alternative name, the imperial or impériale.
Stubble – a very short beard of only one to a few days growth. This became fashionable during the heyday of Miami Vice. During this time, a modified electric razor called the Miami Device became popular, which would trim stubble to a preset length.
Van Dyke – A goatee accompanied by a moustache.
Verdi – short beard with rounded bottom and slightly shaven cheeks with prominent moustache
Neckbeard (Neard) – Similar to the Chinstrap, but with the chin and jawline shaven, leaving hair to grow only on the neck. While never as popular as other beard styles, a few noted historical figures have worn this type of beard, such as Nero and Horace Greeley.
Soul patch – a small beard just below the lower lip and above the chin
Friendly Mutton Chops – long muttonchop type sideburns connected to a mustache, but with a shaved chin
Stashburns - Sideburns that drop down the jaw but jut upwards across the mustache, leaving the chin exposed. Similar to "Friendly Mutton Chops" But often found in south and southwestern American culture.
French beard (Bulgan in Kerala) - a beard with integrated moustache which wraps around the lips and continue as beard on chin. Cheeks are kept shaven. French beard, when fully formed is usually referred to as bulgan.

Quotations regarding beards

"There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women—and I am neither one." -Greek saying

"A woman with a beard looks like a man. A man without a beard looks like a woman." - Afghan Saying

"The beard is the handsomeness of the face, and a wife is the joy in a man's heart." - R' Akiva, Eicha Rabbah

Leonato: You may light on a husband that hath no beard.
Beatrice: What should I do with him? Dress him in my apparel and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man: and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him... -William Shakespeare - Excerpt from Much Ado About Nothing – Act 2, Scene I

"You should be [i.e. look like] women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so" - Banquo, to the witches, in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Early Christian attitudes

St Clement of Alexandria
- "The hair of the chin showed him to be a man." St Clement of Alexandria (c.195, E), 2.271
- "How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them!...For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest--a sign of strength and rule." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.275
- "This, then, is the mark of the man, the beard. By this, he is seen to be a man. It is older than Eve. It is the token of the superior nature....It is therefore unholy to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.276
- "It is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man's natural and noble adornment." St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.277

St Cyprian
- "In their manners, there was no discipline. In men, their beards were defaced." St Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.438
- "The beard must not be plucked. 'You will not deface the figure of your beard'." (Leviticus 19:27) St. Cyprian, 5.553
Lactantius
- "The nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to distinguish the sex, or to contribute to the beauty of manliness and strength." Lactantius (c. 304-314, W), 7.288

Apostolic Constitutions
- "Men may not destroy the hair of their beards and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the Law says, "You will not deface your beards." For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men." Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c.390, E) 7.392. (1)

Augustine of Hippo
- "There are some details of the body which are there for simply aesthetic reasons, and for no practical purpose—for instance, the nipples on a man's chest, and the beard on his face, the latter being clearly for a masculine ornament, not for protection. This is shown by the fact that women's faces are hairless, and since women are the weaker sex, it would surely be more appropriate for them to be given such a protection." City of God (c. 410) book 22, chapter 24

Gallery

Zeus with full beard
Jesus is generally portrayed with a beard and moustache
Socrates with full beard
Moses with full beard
Muhammad's Close-up of a medieval-era drawing showing him in full beard
Leonardo da Vinci had a beard
Shakespeare with beard
Karl Marx with beard and moustache
Charles Darwin in old age
George Bernard Shaw with beard and moustache
Rabindranath Tagore Bengali polymath with beard and moustache
Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal Emperor
Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji (tenth Guru of Sikhism) with beard and moustache

Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji (tenth Guru of Sikhism) with beard and moustache
Shivaji, a Hindu king, with full beard

Shivaji, a Hindu king, with full beard
Manmohan Singh 14th and current Prime Minister of India
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Ram Dass
Alhazen with full beard
Khomeini, middle-aged

Khomeini, middle-aged
Lanza del Vasto, Italian-French writer and philosopher
Auguste Rodin (French sculptor) with full beard
Che Guevara with beard and moustache
Rip van Winkle with beard
Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, with two-day stubble
Mark Bunker has been referred to as "Wise Beard Man" by his fans^[36]^[37]^[38]
William Michael Rossetti with beard
William Holman Hunt with long beard
Leo Tolstoy with beard
Ivan Durnovo, Russian Prime Minister
Henry VIII with trimmed beard
Pope Julius II with long beard

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Peck, Harry Thurston, ed. (1898). "Barba". Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York: Harper & Brothers.

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