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A beard is the hair that grows on a man's chin, cheeks, and the area above the upper lip (the opposite is a clean-shaven face). In the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various and varying attributes such as wisdom, sexual potency, or high status, but also lack of cleanliness and refinement or crankiness and an eccentric disposition.
Beards also play an important role in some religions. Zeus and Poseidon are always portrayed with beards, Apollo never and Dionysus rarely. For example, Amish and Hutterite men shave until they are married, then grow a beard and are never thereafter without one -- but it's a particular form of a beard (see Visual markers of marital status). In Orthodox Christianity, beards are worn by the priesthood, and at times have been required for all believers - see Old Believers. Sikhs do not remove a single hair from their body. Many devout Muslims also grow their facial hair, ostensibly in emulation of the Prophet - see also life under Taliban rule.
In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century, returned to fashion after the Napoleonic Era, and were out of fashion again during the first part of the 20th century. Beards, together with long hair, were reintroduced to mainstream society in Western Europe and North America by the hippies in the mid-1960s. At the beginning of the 21st century, the closely clipped Verdi beard, usually with an integrated moustache, also closely clipped, is relatively common, as is a stubble beard (especially on younger men). However, although Full beards are increasingly seen in these areas, they remain a fringe phenomenon.
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 (mustache in the USA); if hair is left only on the chin, the style is a goatee. It is decidedly less common to see a beard or goatee without a corresponding moustache.
Ancient Egyptians associated facial hair with mourning. With the exception of a pencil-thin moustache or goatees, they generally found beards unattractive.
It was a custom among the Romans to consecrate the first growth of their beard to some god; thus Nero at the Gynick games, which he exhibited in the Septa, cut off the first growth of his beard, which he placed in a golden box, adorned with pearls, and then consecrated it in the Capitol to Jupiter.
The nations in the east used mostly to nourish their beards with great care and veneration, and it was a punishment among them, for licentiousness and adultery, to have the beard of the offending parties publicly cut off. Such a sacred regard had they for the preservation of their beards, that if a man pledged it for the payment of a debt, he would not fail to pay it. Among the Romans a bearded man was a proverbial expression for a man of virtue and simplicity. The Romans during grief and mourning used to let their hair and beard grow (Livy), while the Greeks on the contrary used to cut off their hair and shave their beards on such occasions (Seneca) (From this custom probably originated that in England, of widows concealing their hair for a stated period after the death of their husbands. Indeed, we know of more than one instance of a widow closely cutting off her hair. But these sorrowful observances are becoming less and less frequent). When Alexander the Great was going to fight against the Persians, one of his officers brought him word that all was ready for battle, and demanded if he required anything further. On which Alexander replied, "nothing but that the Macedonians cut off their beards, for there is not a better handle to take a man by than the beard." This shows Alexander intended close fighting. Shaving was not introduced among the Romans until late. Pliny tells us that P. Ticinias was the first who brought a barber to Rome, which was in the 454th year from the building of the city. Scipio Africanus was the first among the Romans who shaved his beard, and Adrianus the emperor (says Dion,) was the first of all the Caesars who nourished his beard.
The Roman servants or slaves were not allowed to poll their hair, or shave their beards. The Jews thought it ignominious to lose their beards (Bible: 2 Samuels ch. 10, verse 4). Among the Catti, a nation of Germany, a young man was not allowed to shave or cut his hair till he had slain an enemy. (Tacitus.) The Lombards or Longobards, derived their Fame from the great length of their beards. When Otho the Great used to speak anything serious, he swore by his beard, which covered his breast. The Persians are fond of long beards. We read in Olearius' Travels of a king of Persia who had commanded his steward's head to be cut off, and on its being brought to him, he remarked, "what a pity it was, that a man possessing such fine mustachios, should have been executed," but added he, "Ah! it was your own fault." The Normans considered the beard as an indication of distress and misery. The Ancient Britons used always to wear the hair on the upper lip, and so strongly were they attached to this custom, that when William the Conqueror ordered them to shave their upper lip, it was so repugnant to their feelings, that many of them chose rather to abandon their country than resign their mustachios. In the 15th century, the beard was worn long. In the 16th, it was suffered to grow to an amazing length, (see the portraits of Bishop Gardiner, and Cardinal Pole, during Queen Mary's reign) and very often made use of as a tooth-pick case. Brantome tells us that Admiral Coligny wore his tooth-pick in his beard.
Today, beards are much more accepted in the western world than they were. From the 1920s to the 1960s, beards were virtually forbidden in mainstream America. The few men who wore beards during this period were either old, in academia, or part of the counterculture, such as the "beatniks". Even today there is prejudice against beards and against men who wear beards, although it is much less serious than it once was.
It has been noted that there is a close and consistent association of long standing in American movies between facial hair and role -- if one lead male character has more facial hair than another, he is far more likely to be the antagonist, and the man with less (or no) facial hair the protagonist.
Most armed forces still prohibit beards. The U.S. Army 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, but subsequently banned them again. The vast majority of police forces across the United States still ban beards. However, mustaches are generally allowed in both the military and police forces.
Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to grow beards.
It is illegal for boxers to have beards.
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