1788 Sir Mullet

I was reading a book recently in which they used some terms having to do with Heraldry. Family crests and such that started way back when knights wore various signs on their shields to indicate who they were. It's quite a complex study these days as so many different symbols emerged over the course of the middle ages.
I was reminded of one of those symbols recently when I saw a guy attending a local fair. Fairs originated in medieval times as well, so it was nice to see some sort of weird consistency over the years. The guy was wearing a mullet.
The hair -- not the heraldry.
Mullets, that favorite hairstyle that proclaims "business in front, party in the back" and tastelessness all around, is a hairstyle that goes way back indeed. As does its bald-on-top version, the skullet. But the term itself goes back even longer.
Some heraldic symbols were meant to indicate not just the family you were from, but what position you had in that family. So a person sporting a laid down pallet looking thing called a Label on his crest was known to one and all as the firstborn son, or heir to all the stuff.
A crescent signified both hope and glory, and the second son. A finger ring or an annulet signified the fifth son and fidelity. Apparently fifth sons stayed married longer or didn't sire as many illegitimate offspring in medieval times.
The sign of the third son was a five-pointed star. Also known as a mullet. The mullet also meant that the person had a divine quality bestowed by god.
Perhaps the quality to ignore the dictates of fashion. And wear a hairstyle that looks like it was hacked into shape by a medieval barber.
America, ya gotta love it.