The Staffordshire Regiment Cap Badge: History, Symbolism & Meaning
Introduction
The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's) was formed on 31 January 1959 by amalgamating The South Staffordshire Regiment with The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's).
The familiar Staffordshire Regiment cap badge combines the Staffordshire Knot with the Prince of Wales's feathers, coronet and ICH DIEN scroll. It brought together devices associated with both predecessor regiments: the Knot represented their shared Staffordshire county identity, while the Prince of Wales's device came through the North Staffordshire lineage.
Crucially, this familiar badge was not introduced at the 1959 amalgamation. The new regiment initially wore the Mercian Brigade cap badge. Contemporary Army records state that the Staffordshire Regiment's own knot-and-feathers badge was taken into use on 17 September 1970.
Choose Your Staffordshire Regiment Cap Badge or Display Frame
Four Numbered Regiments Behind the Staffordshire Lineage
The two regiments amalgamated in 1959 had themselves been created by the Childers reforms of 1881.
The 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot
The senior South Staffordshire lineage began in 1705. The regiment became the 38th Foot in 1751 and received its Staffordshire county designation in 1782. It later formed the 1st Battalion of The South Staffordshire Regiment.
The 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers)
The 80th was raised in 1793 as the Staffordshire Volunteers and became the 2nd Battalion of The South Staffordshire Regiment in 1881.
The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot
The 64th began as a second battalion of the 11th Foot in 1756 and became an independent regiment in 1758. In 1782 it received the title 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot and later formed the 1st Battalion of The North Staffordshire Regiment.
The 98th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot
The 98th was raised in 1824 and received the Prince of Wales's title in 1876. It formed the 2nd Battalion of The North Staffordshire Regiment in 1881 and brought the Prince of Wales's feathers and ICH DIEN tradition into the North Staffords.
From North and South Staffords to One Regiment
The South Staffordshire Regiment was formed in 1881 from the 38th and 80th Foot. The North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's) combined the 64th and 98th.
Both were county regiments with their own distinctive badges and traditions. The South Staffords used the Staffordshire Knot prominently; the North Staffords combined the Knot with the Prince of Wales's feathers, coronet and ICH DIEN.
On 31 January 1959, while both regiments were stationed in Germany, they amalgamated as a single battalion: The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's).
Key Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1705 | The senior South Staffordshire lineage is raised. |
| 1758 | The future 64th Foot becomes an independent regiment. |
| 1793 | The 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) is raised. |
| 1824 | The future 98th Foot is raised. |
| 1876 | The 98th receives the Prince of Wales's title. |
| 1881 | The South Staffordshire and North Staffordshire regiments are formed. |
| 31 Jan 1959 | North and South Staffords amalgamate as The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's). |
| 1959–1970 | The regiment wears the Mercian Brigade cap badge while its own design is developed. |
| 17 Sep 1970 | The familiar Staffordshire Knot and Prince of Wales's feathers cap badge is taken into use. |
| 1972–1996 | Eight operational tours are undertaken in Northern Ireland. |
| 1990–1991 | The regiment deploys to the Gulf with 7th Armoured Brigade for Operation GRANBY/Desert Storm. |
| 1996 | One of the last British regiments to garrison Hong Kong before the handover. |
| 2005; 2006–07 | The regiment completes its final independent operational deployments in Iraq. |
| 1 Sep 2007 | The Staffordshire Regiment joins the Cheshire Regiment and Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters to form The Mercian Regiment. |
The 1959–1970 Mercian Brigade Badge
The regiment formed in 1959 did not immediately adopt the badge now most closely associated with it.
Contemporary Soldier magazine reporting from January 1970 states that The Staffordshire Regiment was still wearing the Mercian Brigade badge while considering the design of a new regimental badge.
This matters when dating photographs and insignia. A Staffordshire Regiment soldier photographed during the 1960s may correctly be wearing the Mercian Brigade badge even though the unit title was already The Staffordshire Regiment.
The 1970–2007 Staffordshire Regiment Cap Badge
The familiar regimental badge was introduced on 17 September 1970. An Army article on the badge published in 1983 records that date explicitly.
The design combines three principal devices:
- the Staffordshire Knot;
- the Prince of Wales's feathers and coronet;
- the ICH DIEN scroll.
National Army Museum catalogues the later badge in precisely this form and dates surviving examples to the regiment's 1959–2007 period, while the contemporary Army evidence identifies 1970 as the point at which this particular pattern entered use.
The Staffordshire Knot
The Knot is the long-standing county symbol of Staffordshire and had been used in the insignia of both North and South Staffordshire regiments.
National Army Museum describes the knot as a county symbol probably rooted in the older Mercian/Staffordshire tradition. The Staffordshire Regiment Museum also notes much earlier local appearances of the knot-like device, including Anglo-Saxon material.
For the 1970 badge its significance is straightforward: it provided a shared Staffordshire device acceptable to soldiers from both predecessor regiments.
The Prince of Wales's Feathers, Coronet and ICH DIEN
The upper device came through the North Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's).
National Army Museum identifies it as the Prince of Wales's feathers emerging from a coronet above the motto ICH DIEN, German for “I Serve”. The motto was inherited by the North Staffords from the 98th Foot.
The feathers, coronet and motto form one recognised Prince of Wales's device. They should not be treated as three unrelated symbols with separate invented meanings.
The Holland Patch
Behind the 1970 cap badge the regiment retained a piece of Holland material inherited from the South Staffordshire tradition.
An Army account published in 1983 records that the South Staffords had used this backing from 1935. Regimental tradition connected it with the 38th Foot's long service in the West Indies, where shortages of proper cloth were said to have forced soldiers to repair or make clothing from coarse sacking or similar material.
The Holland patch helped balance the visual inheritance of the 1970 badge: the Prince of Wales's feathers came through the North Staffords, while the backing preserved a South Staffordshire distinction.
The West Indies explanation should be described as regimental tradition, not treated as a fully documented supply record unless contemporary evidence is produced.
Inherited Service Before 1959
The Staffordshire Regiment inherited the histories and battle honours of four numbered regiments, but campaigns before January 1959 belong to those predecessor units rather than to The Staffordshire Regiment itself.
Among the best-known inherited episodes were the First World War service of the North and South Staffords, including severe fighting on the Western Front, and the Second World War record of the South Staffords at Arnhem and in Burma.
Major George Cairns of the South Staffordshire Regiment received the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions with the Chindits in Burma in 1944. The 2nd South Staffords also fought at Arnhem during Operation MARKET GARDEN later that year.
These events form part of the lineage inherited in 1959 but should not be described as campaigns undertaken by the post-1959 Staffordshire Regiment.
Operational Service of The Staffordshire Regiment, 1959–2007
The new regiment remained in Germany until 1962, then served in East Africa from 1962 to 1964. National Army Museum records its involvement in suppressing a mutiny in the Uganda military after independence and notes that it was the final British regiment to leave Kenya in December 1964.
In 1968 it moved to West Berlin. After returning to Britain in 1970, it deployed to Sharjah in 1971 and became the final British unit to leave when the emirate entered the United Arab Emirates that December.
The regiment began its first of eight Northern Ireland tours in 1972. It also served extensively in Germany and deployed to the Gulf for Operation GRANBY/Desert Storm in 1990–91 as part of 7th Armoured Brigade.
Later service included Hong Kong, Cyprus and Kosovo. The regiment was one of the last British units to garrison Hong Kong before the 1997 handover.
Its final independent operational deployments were to Iraq on Operation TELIC in 2005 and 2006–07.
Watchman and Regimental Identity
The Staffordshire Regiment inherited the South Staffordshire tradition of the regimental mascot Watchman, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
The dog became one of the regiment's best-known non-heraldic symbols and the tradition continues within The Mercian Regiment's Staffordshire lineage.
Watchman should be treated as a regimental mascot tradition distinct from the cap-badge design itself.
From Staffordshire Regiment to The Mercian Regiment
On 1 September 2007, The Staffordshire Regiment amalgamated with The Cheshire Regiment and The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment to form The Mercian Regiment.
The Staffordshire Regiment became the lineage of 3 MERCIAN. That battalion was later disbanded in 2014, but Staffordshire history and traditions remained part of the wider Mercian Regiment inheritance.
The modern Mercian cap badge is a different design based on the Mercian double-headed eagle and Saxon Crown; it should not be confused with the Staffordshire knot-and-feathers badge.
Collecting Staffordshire Regiment Cap Badges
Do Not Date the Familiar Badge to 1959
The regiment was formed in 1959, but the familiar knot-and-feathers badge was not taken into use until 17 September 1970. A supposed “1959 Staffordshire Regiment badge” of this pattern therefore needs careful description.
1959–1970 Mercian Brigade Period
During the regiment's first decade soldiers wore the Mercian Brigade badge. Period photographs and provenance are particularly useful when identifying insignia from this phase.
1970–2007 Staffordshire Pattern
The later pattern is the Staffordshire Knot surmounted by the Prince of Wales's feathers and coronet over the ICH DIEN scroll. National Army Museum's c.2000 example provides a reliable museum reference.
The Holland Backing
The Holland patch was separate from the metal badge. Original metal badges may therefore survive without the backing, and later pairings of badge and cloth should not be assumed to be original without provenance.
Officer and Other-Ranks Examples
Different constructions exist. North Staffordshire museum examples also demonstrate how officer and other-ranks insignia could differ before the 1959 amalgamation. For the Staffordshire Regiment itself, rank should be assigned using documented pattern and manufacture rather than apparent quality alone.
Originals and Licensed Display Pieces
No single feature proves originality. Knot form, feather and coronet detail, ICH DIEN lettering, dimensions, material, reverse fittings and provenance should be assessed together.
Modern officially licensed Precision Military Emblems pieces are commemorative display emblems and should not be confused with original military issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was The Staffordshire Regiment formed?
31 January 1959, from the North and South Staffordshire regiments.
Was the familiar cap badge introduced in 1959?
No. The regiment initially wore the Mercian Brigade badge. The knot-and-feathers Staffordshire Regiment badge entered use on 17 September 1970.
What does the cap badge show?
The Staffordshire Knot surmounted by the Prince of Wales's feathers emerging from a coronet, with ICH DIEN below.
What does ICH DIEN mean?
“I Serve”. The motto came through the North Staffordshire Regiment from the 98th Foot.
Why is the Staffordshire Knot used?
It was a long-standing Staffordshire county device used in the insignia of both predecessor regiments.
What is the Holland Patch?
A cloth backing inherited from the South Staffordshire Regiment. Regimental tradition connected it with the 38th Foot's West Indies service.
Did The Staffordshire Regiment fight at Arnhem?
The post-1959 regiment did not. Arnhem in 1944 belongs to the South Staffordshire Regiment, whose history was inherited by The Staffordshire Regiment in 1959.
When did The Staffordshire Regiment cease to exist?
On 1 September 2007, when it became part of The Mercian Regiment.
Further Reading
National Army Museum — The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's)
National Army Museum — Staffordshire Regiment Cap Badge, c.2000
National Army Museum — North Staffordshire Cap Badge, c.1900
British Army — The Mercian Regiment — current successor-regiment context.
Officially Licensed Staffordshire Regiment Displays
Precision Military Emblems produces officially MOD-licensed Staffordshire Regiment display pieces from approved artwork.
These are modern commemorative display pieces based on the 1970–2007 Staffordshire Regiment badge pattern, not original military-issue badges.