This is from the comments in the topic below about neckties. It’s from my friend Mark Adams:

As a layman I must defend the necktie.

A friend of mine is an administrator at boys school and all the boys wear ties. To encourage them to wear their ties with pride he tells them the history of the garment (a little different than the one provided by Mr. Lauren) that links it to the defeat of the Muslims.

Here is how the story goes according to him:

“I can hunt the details down, but it was a small regiment that held off the Turks outside the gates of Vienna; it was a huge victory for Christendom that finally turned the tide of the great eastern arm of the Crescent until the present ebbing of muslim violence. The regiment wore a long red scarf tied around their necks and draped down in front. People began to honor them all over Europe. Then other regiments began to use the scarf idea with their own designs and colors. Soon colleges and guilds too. Now it is a symbol of almost every profession to wear the tie.”

And allow me to note that even today there are some Muslims who say that it is wrong to wear a tie (do a google on Muslims and neckties) because they say it is supposed to be a symbol for the cross. So I say to all the laymen: Wear your neckties with pride as a symbol of Christendom’s defeat of the Muslims.

This is awesome. Makes me want to rip off my collar and put on a red necktie!