The Queen's Own Yeomanry Cap Badge: History, Symbolism & Collecting Guide
Introduction
The Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY) is an Army Reserve light cavalry regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps. Formed in 1971 for reconnaissance duties, it continues in the light cavalry reconnaissance role today.
The regiment itself dates from 1971, but the identities carried by its squadrons are much older. Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Northumberland yeomanry traditions all survive within the present regiment. The running fox on the cap badge comes through the Yorkshire line from the East Riding Yeomanry; the scroll names the regiment that adopted it in 1971.
Choose Your Queen's Own Yeomanry Cap Badge or Display Frame
About This Guide
This guide is principally about The Queen's Own Yeomanry from 1971 to the present. Earlier regiments appear where they are needed to explain the QOY's formation, squadron identities, cap badge and inherited traditions. Their earlier campaigns are not presented as operations fought by the post-1971 regiment.
Gallantry awards require the same distinction. Several Victoria Cross recipients belong to the histories of units that have at one time formed QOY squadrons, but each award must be attributed to the regiment or battalion in which the man was serving when the action took place.
Did You Know?
- The Queen's Own Yeomanry dates from 1 April 1971.
- Its original purpose was armoured reconnaissance in support of British forces in Germany.
- The current soldiers' cap-badge pattern is officially described as a gold fox above a silver scroll bearing QUEEN'S OWN YEOMANRY.
- The running fox comes through the Yorkshire yeomanry line and ultimately the East Riding Yeomanry.
- QOY personnel have served in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently in Estonia and Poland.
- The regiment now has squadrons in York, Wigan, Chester and Newcastle upon Tyne.
- No Victoria Cross is recorded for an action by a soldier serving under the title The Queen's Own Yeomanry; several older VC stories connected with its wider yeomanry family need careful attribution.
Formation in 1971
The Queen's Own Yeomanry came out of the reorganisation of Britain's Territorial and reserve forces at the end of the 1960s. Detailed lineage records show that on 1 April 1971 the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment was formed with its headquarters at Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne. Its squadrons were rebuilt from the surviving cadres of the Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry, Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry, Cheshire Yeomanry (Earl of Chester's) and the Northumberland Hussars.
The title The Queen's Own Yeomanry was approved later that month. In November 1972 the squadron titles were regularised as NH (Northumberland Hussars), A (Ayrshire Yeomanry), C (Cheshire Yeomanry) and Y (Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry).
The British Army's current public history says that five yeomanry units came together in 1971. Detailed lineage records, however, identify the four surviving cadres named above when setting out the new regiment's squadron structure. The sources therefore differ in how they describe the formation; for the 1971 order of battle, the named cadre structure is used here.
Changes to the Regiment after 1971
The QOY's squadron structure has changed repeatedly since its formation. In 1986, D (Northumberland Hussars) Squadron was formed at Cramlington from elements of the existing Northumberland Hussars squadron, while the latter became Headquarters (Northumberland Hussars) Squadron.
On 1 April 1992, B (Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry) Squadron transferred from The Royal Yeomanry. On 1 November 1992, A (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Squadron transferred to the newly formed Scottish Yeomanry.
The Strategic Defence Review produced a more substantial change on 1 July 1999. Sherwood Rangers Squadron returned to The Royal Yeomanry, the Cheshire squadron transferred to The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, and the Cramlington Northumberland squadron was disbanded. The reorganised QOY then comprised A (Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry) Squadron at Ayr, B (North Irish Horse) Squadron at Belfast, C (Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse) Squadron at Cupar, D (Northumberland Hussars) Squadron at Newcastle upon Tyne and Yorkshire Squadron at York.
Army 2020 changed the map again. The Scottish and Northern Irish elements left the QOY, while the Cheshire and Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry squadrons of The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry were transferred into it in 2014. The present regiment consequently carries Yorkshire, Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry, Cheshire Yeomanry and Northumberland Hussars identities.
Key Dates in the Queen's Own Yeomanry Story
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 April 1971 | The 2nd Armoured Car Regiment is formed at Newcastle upon Tyne from surviving yeomanry cadres. |
| 30 April 1971 | The Queen's Own Yeomanry designation is approved. |
| November 1972 | The squadron titles are regularised as Northumberland Hussars, Ayrshire Yeomanry, Cheshire Yeomanry and Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry. |
| 1971–1989 | The regiment serves in the divisional reconnaissance role in support of British forces in Germany. |
| 1986 | D (Northumberland Hussars) Squadron is formed at Cramlington. |
| Post-Cold War | QOY soldiers deploy to the Balkans with United Nations and NATO forces. |
| 1992 | Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry joins as B Squadron; Ayrshire Yeomanry later transfers to The Scottish Yeomanry. |
| 1 July 1999 | The regiment reorganises with Ayrshire, North Irish Horse, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse, Northumberland Hussars and Yorkshire squadrons. |
| 2000–2015 | QOY personnel serve on operations including Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| 22 September 2007 | Prince Charles, then Royal Honorary Colonel, presents the regiment with its first QOY Guidon at Alnwick Castle. |
| 2014 | Army 2020 brings the Cheshire Yeomanry and Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry squadron identities into the QOY. |
| 2015–present | The regiment serves in the modern light cavalry role, including NATO commitments in Estonia and Poland, and transitions from RWMIK to Jackal. |
| September 2018 | A second QOY Guidon is presented at Bramham Park, Wetherby. |
| 2022 | 19th Light Brigade is re-formed to command and generate Army Reserve combat units; the QOY forms one of its two light cavalry regiments. |
| Today | The QOY remains an Army Reserve light cavalry regiment with squadrons at York, Wigan, Chester and Newcastle upon Tyne. |
The Cap Badge: The Running Fox
The QOY cap badge is one of the more immediately recognisable badges in the Royal Armoured Corps. The central device is a running fox above a scroll bearing the regimental title. A Ministry of Defence clothing-pattern list identifies the soldiers' badge as Pattern No. 20530, NATO stock number 8455-99-136-4746: aluminium, anodised in gold and silver, with a gold fox above a silver scroll reading QUEEN'S OWN YEOMANRY. The listed dimensions are 28 mm high by 55 mm wide.
The fox was not invented for the new regiment in 1971. It comes through the Yorkshire yeomanry inheritance and is closely associated with the East Riding Yeomanry. East Riding Museums records the running fox as that regiment's emblem and connects its selection with the foxhunting and shooting background of many of the regiment's early officers.
The fox should not be retrospectively explained as an emblem of reconnaissance simply because that is the modern regiment's role. The documented trail leads instead to the East Riding Yeomanry and the hunting culture of its early officer corps. The new regiment drew the running fox from that Yorkshire inheritance. In Head-Dress Badges of the British Army, A. L. Kipling and H. L. King give 29 March 1972 as the sealed date for the QOY fox-and-scroll cap badge.
The Scroll
The modern scroll names the regiment: QUEEN'S OWN YEOMANRY. This is worth distinguishing from older East Riding Yeomanry forms associated with the word FORRARD. The historical fox helps explain the ancestry of the device; the QOY scroll identifies the present regiment.
No King's Crown or Queen's Crown Variant
The standard QOY running-fox cap badge does not carry a sovereign's crown. A change of monarch therefore does not, by itself, create a King's Crown or Queen's Crown version of this design. For collectors, that is an important difference from many British Army badges in which the crown is a central dating feature.
From Horse to Armoured Reconnaissance
Yeomanry began as volunteer mounted cavalry in the late eighteenth century, but the QOY was created for a modern reconnaissance role. From 1971 to 1989 it operated in divisional reconnaissance in support of British forces in Germany. Its task was therefore armoured reconnaissance from the outset; the older cavalry connection survived in the regiment's titles, customs and squadron identities rather than in a return to mounted service.
From the Balkans to Iraq and Afghanistan
During the post-Cold War period, QOY soldiers deployed to the Balkans with United Nations and NATO forces. The Army's current regimental history groups this service within its 1989–2000 period. It records further operational service in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2000 and 2015.
The scale of that reserve commitment was recorded at the regiment's 2018 Guidon parade. Prince Charles noted that, from 2006 to 2018, 124 QOY yeomen had been mobilised in support of 25 deployments, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus and Poland.
From CVR(T) to RWMIK and Jackal
The QOY's reconnaissance equipment has changed substantially since the Cold War. In 2011, the Ministry of Defence described the regiment as equipped with the CVR(T) family of armoured reconnaissance vehicles; twelve Scimitar vehicles led the regiment's 40th-anniversary parade through Newcastle that October. The regiment later operated RWMIK, and in July 2019 the Royal Armoured Corps described the QOY as being in the process of converting from RWMIK to Jackal.
The regiment is paired with The Light Dragoons and conducts mounted and dismounted reconnaissance using high-mobility vehicles, observation posts, communications equipment and drones.
Army records list QOY personnel on Operation Cabrit in Estonia and Poland, Operation Herrick in Afghanistan, Operation Telic in Iraq and Operation Tosca in Cyprus. The regiment has also exercised in Denmark, Jordan, Kenya, Oman and Germany.
The Regiment Today
The Queen's Own Yeomanry remains an Army Reserve light cavalry regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps. Regimental Headquarters and D Squadron are at Fenham Barracks, Newcastle upon Tyne, with the other squadrons at York, Wigan and Chester. Since the re-formation of 19th Light Brigade in 2022, the QOY has formed part of the Army's fully reservist brigade. The Duchess of Edinburgh is the regiment's Royal Honorary Colonel.
| Squadron | Location | Inherited identity |
|---|---|---|
| A Squadron | York | Yorkshire Yeomanry |
| B Squadron | Wigan | Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry |
| C Squadron | Chester | Cheshire Yeomanry |
| D Squadron | Newcastle upon Tyne | Northumberland Hussars |
The squadron subtitles preserve the older county yeomanry identities within the QOY. They are therefore part of the regiment's formal lineage, not simply local recruiting labels.
The Antecedent Traditions Behind the Present Squadrons
Yorkshire Yeomanry
The Yorkshire line brings together several historic Yorkshire yeomanry traditions, including the Yorkshire Hussars, Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons and East Riding Yeomanry. The East Riding connection is especially visible because its running fox became the basis of the QOY's regimental cap badge.
Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry
The Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry is an old Lancashire yeomanry identity. After the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry was disbanded, that lineage was retained in the Wigan-based B Squadron of the QOY.
Cheshire Yeomanry
The Cheshire Yeomanry traces its history to the late eighteenth century. It fought in the South African War, served in Egypt during the First World War and later combined with the Shropshire Yeomanry to form the 10th (Shropshire and Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry. Its modern identity is continued by C Squadron at Chester.
Northumberland Hussars
The Northumberland Hussars provide the regiment's Newcastle connection and have been bound into the QOY story from the beginning. Their cadre helped form the 1971 regiment, and the Northumberland identity continues in D Squadron and the regiment's enduring association with Fenham Barracks.
Regimental Traditions and Identity
D'ye Ken John Peel
The regimental march is D'ye Ken John Peel, the Cumberland hunting song, maintaining another link with the hunting traditions reflected in the running-fox badge.
Prussian Blue and Cavalry Gold
The colours commonly associated with the regiment are Prussian blue and cavalry gold. They appear in regimental dress distinctions including stable-belt and shoulder-flash traditions. As with the squadron titles, these details reinforce a cavalry identity that survives even though the regiment's operational work is now performed with modern light vehicles and on foot.
The Queen's Own Yeomanry Guidons
The QOY received its first Guidon as a regiment on 22 September 2007, when Prince Charles, then Royal Honorary Colonel, presented it at Alnwick Castle.
A second Guidon was presented at Bramham Park, Wetherby, in September 2018. In his speech at the parade, Prince Charles described it as the second Guidon presented since the regiment's formation in 1971, while the Guidon marched off parade represented more than two centuries of volunteer service to the Crown through the QOY's antecedent traditions. The new Guidon continued that inherited cavalry tradition within the post-1971 regiment.
Inherited Battle Honours
The honours carried on the QOY Guidon are inherited through its constituent yeomanry lineages. They should not be read as campaigns fought by The Queen's Own Yeomanry after 1971; they record the service of the older county yeomanry regiments whose identities the QOY preserves.
Victoria Crosses and the QOY Lineages
No Victoria Cross is recorded for an action by a soldier serving under the title The Queen's Own Yeomanry after the regiment's formation in 1971. There are, however, several VC recipients in the histories of units that have subsequently formed QOY squadrons. They should be identified by the unit in which the recipient was serving at the time of the action.
- Thomas Caldwell VC enlisted in the 1/1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry and won the VC on 31 October 1918 while serving as a sergeant in the 12th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. That battalion carried the combined Ayr and Lanark Yeomanry title. Caldwell therefore has a legitimate place in the wider Ayr-and-Lanark yeomanry story, but his original yeomanry regiment was Lanarkshire and his VC action was with the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
- Harold Edward Whitfield VC won the VC in Palestine on 10 March 1918 with the 10th (Shropshire and Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry. He had joined the Shropshire Yeomanry in 1908. His connection with Cheshire arises through the combined wartime battalion.
- Richard Annesley West VC, DSO & Bar, MC was a North Irish Horse officer attached to the Tank Corps when he earned the VC for actions in August and September 1918. The North Irish Horse later formed B Squadron QOY from 1999, which makes West part of the history carried for a time within the regiment, but not a QOY VC.
- William John English VC earned the VC at Vlakfontein on 3 July 1901 while serving with the 2nd Scottish Horse. The Scottish Horse lineage later passed into the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse, whose C Squadron joined the QOY in 1999.
- Sir John Peniston Milbanke VC later commanded the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, whose B Squadron served in the QOY from 1992 to 1999. His VC had been earned much earlier, in South Africa in 1900, while he was serving with the 10th Hussars.
These awards belong to the histories of the units concerned. They illustrate the depth of the QOY's inherited yeomanry connections, but they should not be added together and presented as Victoria Crosses won by the Queen's Own Yeomanry itself.
Collecting and Identifying Queen's Own Yeomanry Cap Badges
The QOY badge is straightforward in outline but less straightforward to date from finish alone. The documented soldiers' pattern is the running fox over the QUEEN'S OWN YEOMANRY scroll, with the fox in gold anodised finish and the scroll in silver.
The Official Soldiers' Pattern
The Ministry of Defence clothing-pattern list gives the soldiers' cap badge as approximately 28 mm high by 55 mm wide. The MOD pattern provides a useful baseline when identifying a modern service-pattern example.
Construction and Finish
Collector references and surviving examples show that QOY badges are encountered in more than one construction and finish, including anodised, bi-metal and silver-and-gilt forms. Finish on its own should therefore not be used as a precise date or rank test without considering the reverse, fittings, manufacture and provenance.
No Crown Dating
The normal QOY cap badge has no sovereign's crown. It cannot be divided into King's Crown and Queen's Crown types simply on the basis of the reigning monarch.
East Riding and QOY Badges Are Not Interchangeable
The running fox was inherited from the East Riding Yeomanry tradition, but an East Riding Yeomanry badge is not automatically a QOY badge. The wording of the scroll, construction and period must all be checked.
Modern Display Pieces
Precision Military Emblems' Queen's Own Yeomanry products are modern commemorative display pieces produced under MOD licence from approved artwork. They are not original service issue and are not wearable military insignia.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was The Queen's Own Yeomanry formed?
The regiment dates from 1 April 1971. Detailed lineage records show the new organisation initially formed as the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment before the Queen's Own Yeomanry title was approved later that month.
What does the Queen's Own Yeomanry cap badge show?
A running fox above a scroll bearing the regimental title. The MOD's 2021 soldiers' pattern describes a gold fox and silver scroll.
Why does the QOY use a fox?
The device comes through the Yorkshire yeomanry line and the running-fox emblem of the East Riding Yeomanry. East Riding Museums links the original choice to the foxhunting culture of the regiment's early officer corps.
Does the QOY cap badge have King's Crown and Queen's Crown versions?
Not in the standard running-fox pattern. The badge carries no sovereign's crown, so a change of monarch does not create the usual crown change seen on many other British Army badges.
What is the QOY's role today?
It is an Army Reserve light cavalry reconnaissance regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps. Its soldiers work mounted and dismounted and train with the Jackal vehicle.
Where are the Queen's Own Yeomanry squadrons?
The Army currently lists Regimental Headquarters and D Squadron at Newcastle upon Tyne, A Squadron at York, B Squadron at Wigan and C Squadron at Chester.
Did The Queen's Own Yeomanry win any Victoria Crosses?
No VC is recorded for an action under the QOY title after the regiment's formation in 1971. Older VC recipients sometimes linked to its antecedent family need to be attributed to the units in which they actually served at the time of the action.
Is the Precision Military Emblems badge an original military-issue cap badge?
No. It is a large, modern, officially MOD-licensed commemorative display interpretation intended for wall display.
Museums and Heritage
Because the QOY was assembled from several county yeomanry lines, its heritage is spread across more than one collection. East Riding Museums holds extensive material on the East Riding Yeomanry and its running-fox identity. The Cheshire Military Museum preserves the history of the Cheshire Yeomanry. In Newcastle, collections and archives preserve the Northumberland Hussars strand, while the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry Regimental Museum maintains the Lancashire yeomanry history continued by B Squadron.
There is therefore no single museum collection that covers every strand of QOY ancestry. Research into a particular squadron is often best followed through the museum or archive of that squadron's antecedent regiment.
Further Reading
Selected authoritative sources used for this article:
- The British Army — The Queen's Own Yeomanry
- UK Ministry of Defence — Defence clothing pattern list, including Queen's Own Yeomanry soldiers' cap badge
- East Riding Museums — The Officers and the running-fox emblem
- Cheshire Military Museum — The Cheshire Yeomanry
- Regiments.org archive — Queen's Own Yeomanry titles and lineage
- Victoria Cross and George Cross Association — Thomas Caldwell VC
View full research source list
- East Riding Museums — East Riding Yeomanry research collection
- Regiments.org archive — Northumberland Hussars lineage
- Charity Commission — Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry Regimental Museum
- Wienand Drenth / Regiments.org archive — detailed yeomanry lineage and 1971–1999 squadron changes
- The Royal Family — Queen's Own Yeomanry Guidon Parade speech, 2018
- The Royal Family — The Duchess of Edinburgh visits The Queen's Own Yeomanry, 2025
- The Royal Family — Court Circular, 10 May 2026, Royal Honorary Colonel styling
- Ministry of Defence — Queen's Own Yeomanry 40th anniversary parade and CVR(T) Scimitar equipment, 2011
- British Army — Future Soldier Guide, 19th Brigade re-formation
- Royal Armoured Corps — Yeomanry overview, 2019, including QOY RWMIK-to-Jackal conversion
- Victoria Cross and George Cross Association — Richard Annesley West VC
- Victoria Cross and George Cross Association — William John English VC
- Soldiers of Shropshire — 10th (Shropshire and Cheshire Yeomanry) Battalion KSLI
- Nottinghamshire Roll of Honour — Sir John Peniston Milbanke VC
- Kipling, A. L. and King, H. L., Head-Dress Badges of the British Army.
Officially MOD-Approved Queen's Own Yeomanry Displays
The large 3D Queen's Own Yeomanry Cap Badge shown in this article is the Precision Military Emblems display version. It is an officially MOD-approved product, produced under licence from the UK Ministry of Defence. The matching Queen's Own Yeomanry Cap Badge Display Frame is available separately.
This large wall-display version should not be confused with the small service-issued cap badge described earlier in this article. It is a modern commemorative display interpretation produced from approved military artwork, not wearable military insignia. Intellectual Property of the Secretary of State for Defence is used under licence.
About Precision Military Emblems
Precision Military Emblems produces officially MOD-licensed 3D-printed British military cap badge display pieces and framed heritage displays in Leicestershire. The Military Heritage series is researched from Army, government, regimental, museum and specialist gallantry sources, with the history of a present regiment kept separate from the earlier service of its antecedents where the evidence requires it.
Conclusion
The Queen's Own Yeomanry has existed since 1971. Its post-1971 record includes Cold War reconnaissance in Germany, service by its soldiers in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, the progression from CVR(T) through RWMIK to Jackal, and service within the re-formed 19th Light Brigade from 2022.
The regiment has changed composition several times, but the running fox has remained its most recognisable badge device. That fox belongs to the older East Riding Yeomanry tradition; the QUEEN'S OWN YEOMANRY scroll identifies the regiment that has worn it since the early 1970s. The distinction between inherited history and the QOY's own service is central to understanding both the badge and the regiment.