British Army Cap Badges Trivia Quiz

Answer: Royal Regiment of Scotland

The cap badge of the Royal Regiment of Scotland was first unveiled in 2005, and was the result of a collaborative process in an effort to design a cap badge that would represent all of the diverse regiments that were amalgamated to form the new regiment. Both the lion and the saltire are particular symbols of Scotland, with the saltire used on the national flag, and the lion on the Royal Banner of Scotland.

The crown is the Crown of Scotland, unlike other regiments, which use St Edward's Crown. Also included on the bade is the regiment's motto, "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit", which is the motto of the Order of the Thistle, and was also the motto of four of the regiments that formed the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Answer: Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment was formed in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Queen's Regiment and the Royal Hampshire Regiment. The new regiment's cap badge incorporated elements from the badges of both its antecedents; the dragon, Garter and feathers were all from the Queen's Regiment, and were elements from the antecedents that formed that regiment in 1966.

The rose represents the Hampshire Rose, which is a traditional symbol of Hampshire, and comes from the Royal Hampshire Regiment.

The regiment's name is included in a banner under the badge.

Answer: Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment was originally formed in 2006 from three Lancashire based regiments. The cap badge incorporates two major elements - the red rose, which is a traditional symbol of Lancashire, surmounted by St Edward's Crown, was the cap badge of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, while the laurel wreath was taken from the cap badge of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment.

The third regiment that went to form the Duke of Lancaster's, the King's Regiment, saw its fleur-de-lys cap badge incorporated into the new regiment's buttons.

Answer: Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

The cap badge of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was originally designed as the common badge of the Fusilier Brigade in 1957, which was made up of three regiments of fusiliers. After a fourth regiment was added to the brigade in 1962, the four agreed to amalgamate into a single regiment in 1968, using the brigade's badge as the cap badge of the new regiment.

The badge was designed to incorporate elements from the three original regiments - St George and the Dragon from the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers; the Crown from the Royal Fusiliers; and the wreath from the Lancashire Fusiliers.

Answer: Royal Anglian Regiment

The Royal Anglian Regiment was the first so-called "large regiment" to be formed in the infantry, and came about through the amalgamation in 1964 of the four regiments of the East Anglian Brigade. This was formed in 1957, with the three individual regiments adopting a common cap badge consisting of the castle and key of Gibraltar on top of a silver, eight-pointed star.

The use of the symbols of Gibraltar referred to predecessors of each regiment participating in the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783.

The badge also incorporated a scroll with the words "East Anglian". It was this badge that was adopted as the cap badge of the Royal Anglian Regiment on its formation, with "East Anglian" swapped for "Royal Anglian".

Answer: Yorkshire Regiment

The Yorkshire Regiment was formed in 2006 through the amalgamation of the Army's three Yorkshire based infantry regiments - the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, the Green Howards, and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. The new regiment's cap badge was designed to serve as representative of Yorkshire itself, and so has, as one of its main elements, a white rose, which is one of the major symbols of Yorkshire.

The other main element is the lion rampant holding a banner, which comes from the crest of the coat of arms of the Duke of Wellington, and was used as the cap badge of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

The cap badges of the other two regiments were utilised in the collar badges and buttons of the new regiment.

Answer: Mercian Regiment

The Mercian Regiment was formed in 2007 from three other regiments - the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, and the Staffordshire Regiment. None of the three regiments had any particular geographical links with each other, as they all represented different counties.

So, rather than try and design a new badge incorporating elements from the badges of all three, it was decided to utilise the old badge of the Mercian Brigade from the 1960s, which was a double-headed eagle surmounted by a traditional Saxon crown. However, because this originated as the badge of a reserve regiment, it was initially rejected before, following a minor redesign, it was adopted in 2007. Elements from the badges of the three antecedents were incorporated into the uniform of the new regiment.

Answer: Royal Welsh

The badge of the Royal Welsh, which was formed in 2006, is the traditional heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, consisting of three ostrich feathers within a princely coronet, with the Prince of Wales's traditional motto, "Ich Dein", in a scroll underneath.

The Prince of Wales's feathers is a traditional symbol of Wales, and was used on the cap badges of both of the Royal Welsh's antecedents, the Royal Welch Fusiliers (in which they were incorporated into the traditional grenade badge of a fusilier regiment), and the Royal Regiment of Wales.

Answer: Royal Irish Regiment

The Royal Irish Regiment is unique in that its formation came through the amalgamation of an ordinary, general service regiment, the Royal Irish Rangers, and one whose purpose was internal security, the Ulster Defence Regiment. The cap badge of the new regiment was shared by both of its antecedents, being the harp of the Kingdom of Ireland, which is a traditional Irish harp featuring the head and chest of a woman as the harp's pillar, surmounted by St Edward's Crown. Both regiments that went to form the Royal Irish Regiment drew their cap badge from the Royal Ulster Rifles, which was one of the regiments that formed the Royal Irish Rangers, and whose cap badge, as a major symbol of Ireland, was adopted by the Ulster Defence Regiment on its formation.

Answer: Parachute Regiment

The British Army's airborne forces were first formed in 1941, with the individual parachute battalions amalgamated into a single Parachute Regiment in 1942. The new regiment adopted a new cap badge the following year, which replaced the badge of the Army Air Corps.

The major element of the badge is the pair of stylised wings outstretched, which is a symbol of airborne troops, while the parachute makes it clear that the regiment is trained to use parachutes. The badge is surmounted by St Edward's Crown, which itself is surmounted by a crowned lion statant guardant.

Answer: Royal Gurkha Rifles

The Royal Gurkha Rifles was formed in 1994 when the British Army's four Gurkha infantry regiments were amalgamated. Three of the four regiments incorporated the kukri, which is a traditional knife associated with the Gurkhas, and which every Gurkha soldier is trained to use, into their cap badges. Because of its close association with the Gurkhas, upon the formation of the Royal Gurkha Rifles it was decided to use the simple design of the crossed kukris surmounted by St Edward's Crown of the 6th Gurkha Rifles, as the new regiment's cap badge.

Answer: The Rifles

The Rifles was formed through the amalgamation of the British Army's remaining regiments of Light Infantry and Rifles, which trace their descent from the skirmishers of the late 18th and early 19th century battlefield. All of the traditional Light Infantry regiments utilised a stylised bugle horn as part of their cap badge. When, in 1957, the Light Infantry Brigade was formed, a silver bugle horn was adopted as its common cap badge, which subsequently became the cap badge of the new regiment founded when the four individual regiments amalgamated in 1968 to form The Light Infantry.

When The Rifles was formed in 2007 by amalgamation of The Light Infantry and the Royal Green Jackets, the bugle horn, surmounted by St Edward's Crown, became the new regiment's cap badge. The Maltese Cross cap badge of the Royal Green Jackets became the new regiment's belt badge.