Regimental Badge Lapel Pin

Regimental Badge Lapel Pin

Lapel Pin Enamelled.
The Regimental Badge is a composition of the badges of the forebear regiments. The centrepiece is the Elizabethan Dragon, awarded to The Buffs, in recognition of their Tudor origin, by Queen Anne, probably in 1707.

Below the Tudor Dragon is the Hampshire Rose, as worn by the Trained Bands of Hampshire, who fought so gallantly for King Henry V at Agincourt in 1415.

The surrounding device inscribed with the motto ‘Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense’ (Shame on him who thinks ill of it), is a garter, as awarded to the Knights of The Order of The Garter, England’s oldest Order of Chivalry, founded by King Edward III in 1348. The garter is taken from the badge of The Royal Sussex Regiment granted to the Regiment when it was awarded its ‘Royal’ status in 1832 and the officers’ badge of The Royal Hampshire Regiment.

The feathers above the Tudor Dragon are the ostrich plumes, awarded to The Black Prince, but taken from the helmet of the slain King John of Bohemia at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. The 15th Prince of Wales considered the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment to be deserving of the plumes for its exploits in India. The award was given the King’s approval in 1810 and was subsequently in the badge of The Middlesex Regiment. The crown holding the feathers is The Prince of Wales coronet.