Low production costs aided its popularity and dissemination, although officers and elite guards[1] would have theirs elaborately engraved to display their wealth and status.

[7] It could also derive from morrió in Catalan, which not only designates this type of helmet, but also, among other things, a feedbag, the shape of which resembles a morion when inverted.

[8] It was worn by pikemen, together with a breastplate and buff coat as they stood in phalanx-like pike and shot formations, protecting the flanks of the unarmored musketeers.

[10] Although mostly issued to Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian troops, many Cavaliers wore the morion as well, leading to confusion in battles; soldiers risked being shot by their own allies.

Some captured Spanish armor was worn by Native Americans as late as the 19th century as protection from bullets and a sign of their status.

The indigenously produced helmets were usually made of iron or brass and elaborately decorated with floral arabesque designs, usually in silver.