My the later 18th century, gorgets were worn only by officers. Originally part of the complete plate armor, by the early 18th century the gorget was reduced to a small piece of embossed metal, often enameled to show the unit and sometimes personal decorations as well. In the British, French, and Hanoverian armies, only comissioned officers wore a gorget as a badge of office, while in Prussia and Austria, NCOs often wore gorgets as well.

Because the gorget was a symbol of rank, many officers wore it when getting their portraits painted. Despite this, in daily life an officer would wear his gorget only while on duty -- thus an officer attending a salon or dinner would not wear his gorget as part of his dress uniform, but might if he were about on official business.