The Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment Cap Badge: History, Symbolism & Meaning
Introduction
The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire), usually abbreviated to DERR, was formed on 9 June 1959 by the amalgamation of The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and The Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's). The amalgamation parade took place at Albany Barracks, Parkhurst, on the Isle of Wight, where Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, presented Colours to the new battalion and continued as Colonel-in-Chief.
The regiment inherited the histories of the 49th and 66th Foot through the Berkshire lineage and the 62nd and 99th Foot through the Wiltshire lineage. Those antecedents provided the new regiment with its battle honours, gallantry record, naval associations and several of its most distinctive customs.
For its first decade DERR wore the common Wessex Brigade cap badge. In late 1969 it adopted its own composite badge, combining the Wiltshire cross pattée, the Berkshire China Dragon, the 49th Foot's naval-rope distinction and a ducal coronet. On the beret the badge was worn over the red Brandywine Flash.
DERR ceased to exist as a separate regiment on 26 April 1994. The following day, 27 April 1994, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment formally entered the Army Order of Battle.
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Formation and Regimental Lineage
The new regiment brought together two county regiments that were themselves the products of the 1881 Childers reforms.
The Berkshire Lineage
The Berkshire side descended from the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot and the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot. In 1881 they were joined as Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Berkshire Regiment). The regiment received the Royal title in 1885 following its service at Tofrek.
The Berkshire inheritance brought the China Dragon, the Brandywine Flash and part of the regiment's naval tradition into DERR.
The Wiltshire Lineage
The Wiltshire side descended from the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th (Duke of Edinburgh's) Regiment of Foot. They were joined in 1881 as The Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment).
From the Wiltshire lineage came the cross pattée, the Duke of Edinburgh association, Ferozeshah Day and the naval custom represented by the Vernon Bell.
The 1959 Amalgamation
At the amalgamation parade on 9 June 1959, Prince Philip presented the new battalion's Colours. They carried a selected record of the honours inherited from the Royal Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiments, while his continuing appointment as Colonel-in-Chief maintained the Duke of Edinburgh association in the new regiment.
Key Dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1777 | The 49th Foot serves in the Philadelphia campaign; later Berkshire tradition associates the red Brandywine distinction with this period. |
| 1845 | The 62nd Foot fights at Ferozeshah, the origin of DERR's annual Ferozeshah Day tradition. |
| 1880 | The 66th Foot fights at Maiwand in Afghanistan; DERR later retains Maiwand Day as a regimental day. |
| 1881 | The Berkshire and Wiltshire county regiments are formed from the 49th/66th and 62nd/99th Foot respectively. |
| 1885 | The Berkshire Regiment receives the Royal title following Tofrek. |
| 9 Jun 1959 | DERR is formed at Albany Barracks, Parkhurst; Prince Philip presents the new Colours. |
| 1960 | First overseas deployment to Libya; a company later assists Hurricane Donna relief in the Bahamas. |
| 1961 | First full-regiment overseas posting, to Canada for training. |
| 1962 | Service in British Guiana and the beginning of the Malta posting. |
| 1969 | C Company deploys to Londonderry; the regiment adopts its individual composite cap badge in late 1969. |
| 1970 | B Company deploys to Belfast. |
| 1971 | First complete battalion tour in Northern Ireland; the battalion subsequently serves in West Berlin. |
| 1973–75 | Resident service in Northern Ireland from Ballykinler, including the 1974 Maze Prison riot and operations in South Armagh. |
| 8 Jun 1984 | Prince Philip presents the regiment's second and final stand of Colours at Howe Barracks, Canterbury. |
| 1988–90 | Hong Kong posting, including border duties and exercises across the Far East. |
| 1990–91 | Operational tour in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. |
| 1993 | Final operational tour in South Armagh. |
| 26 Apr 1994 | DERR ceases to exist as a separate regiment. |
| 27 Apr 1994 | The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment formally enters the Army Order of Battle. |
Victoria Cross Heritage
DERR inherited the Victoria Cross traditions of both parent regiments. These were antecedent-regiment awards; no Victoria Cross was won under the DERR title between 1959 and 1994.
The Berkshire lineage carried six regimental Victoria Crosses. The 49th Foot's Crimean War recipients were Lieutenant John Augustus Conolly, Corporal James Owens and Sergeant George Walters. They were followed by Private William House during the South African War, Second Lieutenant Alexander Buller Turner in 1915 and Lance Corporal James Welch at Oppy in 1917.
The Wiltshire lineage added Acting Captain Reginald Frederick Johnson Hayward VC, recognised for his conduct during the German Spring Offensive in March 1918, and Sergeant Maurice Albert Windham Rogers VC, MM, awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his action at Ardea in Italy on 3 June 1944.
Taken together, the two parent regiments brought eight regimental Victoria Crosses into DERR's inherited gallantry record.
Captain Harold Ackroyd VC, MC is also closely associated with the Royal Berkshire story. He served as a Royal Army Medical Corps officer attached as Medical Officer to the Royal Berkshires and won the Victoria Cross while serving with them, but he was an attached RAMC officer and should not simply be added to the regiment's own total of six.
The Development of the Cap Badge
Wessex Brigade Badge, 1959–1969
At formation DERR wore the common Wessex Brigade badge. Photographs and surviving insignia from the early 1960s should therefore not automatically be expected to show the later dragon-and-cross badge.
Composite Badge, 1969–1994
In late 1969, as the brigade system changed and the regiment moved into the Prince of Wales's Division, DERR adopted its own composite badge. The Wardrobe collection dates the change to November 1969.
The design remained the badge most closely associated with DERR until its amalgamation in 1994.
The Composite Cap Badge: Design and Provenance
The Cross Pattée
The silver-coloured cross pattée came from the Wiltshire Regiment and provided the structural background of the badge.
The China Dragon
The central China Dragon came from the Royal Berkshire Regiment and ultimately the 49th Foot. The dragon was awarded as a regimental distinction after the 49th's service in the First China War of 1839–42.
The Double Coil of Naval Rope
A double coil of naval rope surrounds the dragon. The device commemorated the marine service of the 49th Foot and the long naval associations retained within the Berkshire and Wiltshire traditions.
The Ducal Coronet
The upper device is a ducal coronet, reflecting the Duke of Edinburgh association inherited through the Wiltshire lineage. It is not the Sovereign's Crown, so the DERR badge does not have Queen's Crown and King's Crown variants in the normal regnal sense.
The Brandywine Flash
The metal cap badge was worn on the beret over the red Brandywine Flash, inherited from the Royal Berkshire Regiment. The cloth flash and the metal badge were separate items.
Regimental tradition associates the red distinction with the 49th Foot's service in the Philadelphia campaign of 1777, particularly the events around Brandywine and Paoli. The existence of the later red flash is well established; the more colourful details of its eighteenth-century origin are best presented as regimental tradition.
Regimental Traditions
The Farmer's Boy, Auld Robin Grey and Rule Britannia
The DERR quick march was The Farmer's Boy. Its slow march was the old Scottish air Auld Robin Grey, inherited from the Wiltshire Regiment and before that the 99th Foot.
On formal occasions Rule Britannia was usually played after The Farmer's Boy in recognition of naval associations inherited from both parent regiments.
Nicknames
DERR had no officially accepted nickname. “The Farmers Boys” was nevertheless widely used within the regiment, particularly among Warrant Officers and Sergeants. “The Wonders”, derived from the abbreviation “1 DERR”, had limited use in the regiment's earlier years but never became established generally.
Maiwand Day
DERR retained Maiwand Day from the Royal Berkshire tradition. The commemoration recalled the 66th Foot's stand at Maiwand in Afghanistan in 1880. Maiwand itself was not carried as a battle honour; the day was normally marked by a families' sports day followed by an all-ranks dance.
Ferozeshah Day
Ferozeshah Day came from the 62nd Foot and the battle of 21–22 December 1845. On the annual ceremonial parade, the Commanding Officer temporarily handed the battalion Colours into the custody of the Warrant Officers and Sergeants in recognition of the services of their predecessors.
The Colours were returned to the officers at midnight. Another unusual feature of the parade was that the Regimental Sergeant Major alone commanded the Escort to the Colours.
The Vernon Bell
The Vernon Bell preserved another Wiltshire naval tradition. In 1758 four companies of the 62nd Foot had served as marines with Admiral Boscawen's fleet. DERR continued the naval custom of striking ship's time on a bell every half-hour.
The bell was presented by HMS Vernon, with which the regiment had an affiliation. The Wardrobe records DERR as the only regiment to observe this ship's-time custom.
Rolling In
The Officers' Mess also retained the Royal Berkshire custom known as Rolling In, a drum tradition continued by DERR after the 1959 amalgamation.
Operational Service
DERR's first overseas deployment came in March 1960, when the battalion flew to Libya for Exercise Starlight. Later that year a company went to the Bahamas to assist the relief operation after Hurricane Donna.
In 1961 the battalion went to Canada for its first full-regiment overseas posting. It served in British Guiana in 1962 during civil unrest and from 1962 began a lengthy Malta period, with subsequent United Nations commitments in Cyprus.
From the mid-1960s DERR served in West Germany, including Minden, training as a mechanised battalion within BAOR. Companies also served or trained in Libya, France, British Honduras and Malaysia; in British Honduras, company groups undertook security duties, including border patrols and training the local defence forces.
Northern Ireland and Berlin
DERR was involved in Northern Ireland before its first complete battalion tour. C Company deployed to Londonderry in 1969 and B Company to Belfast in 1970. The full battalion deployed on 22 April 1971 and remained until 28 May.
Later in 1971 the battalion moved to West Berlin, where duties included guarding Rudolf Hess at Spandau Prison. It remained in Berlin until July 1973.
From 1973 to 1975 the battalion served from Ballykinler as the Northern Ireland Province Reserve. The period included operations in Londonderry and South Armagh and the battalion's involvement in restoring order during the Maze Prison riot of October 1974. On 28 October 1974, an IRA bomb at the Sandes Soldiers Home killed Corporal Coughlan, Private Swanick and two civilian members of staff, and injured 33 other battalion soldiers. Further losses followed in South Armagh, including Corporal Windsor and Private Allen.
Cyprus, BAOR and Further Northern Ireland Service
A six-month emergency tour in Cyprus followed in 1975. During the 1977 firefighters' strike, A and B Companies deployed to Scotland on Operation BURBERRY, crewing Green Goddess fire engines. The commitment caused the annual Ferozeshah parade to be cancelled; Prince Philip instead visited the companies in Glasgow.
DERR later served as the School of Infantry Demonstration Battalion and from 1978 returned to West Germany in the mechanised role at Osnabrück.
In 1979 the battalion undertook another tour in Londonderry. During a visit to Brussels that year, an IRA bomb exploded at the stage on which the Regimental Band was performing in the Grand Place, wounding two bandsmen and eleven tourists.
A 1983 South Armagh tour was followed by a commitment at Greenham Common. In 1984 DERR undertook Public Duties in London before beginning a United Nations tour in Cyprus during 1984–85.
Further Northern Ireland service followed from 1985 to 1988, with detachments operating across the Province. B Company was in Enniskillen when the IRA bombed the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on 8 November 1987 and assisted in the aftermath.
Hong Kong and the Final Years
From 1988 to 1990 the battalion was based in Hong Kong. It carried out border duties and trained across the Far East and Pacific, including exercises in Brunei, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. A detachment also served in Korea.
After returning to Catterick, DERR undertook an operational tour in County Fermanagh from December 1990 to May 1991 and converted to the air-mobile role.
Training for that role culminated in 1992 with a deployment to Fort Lewis in the United States for Exercise Trumpet Dance.
The regiment's final operational deployment began in March 1993 in South Armagh. During that tour Private John Randell was fatally wounded near Newtownhamilton and Lance Corporal Kevin Pullin was killed at Crossmaglen. Pullin was the last DERR soldier killed on operations.
Battle Honours and the Colours
At the 1959 formation parade, the new DERR Colours carried 36 battle honours on the Queen's Colour and 27 on the Regimental Colour. They represented selected honours inherited from the Royal Berkshire and Wiltshire traditions.
The 1959 stand was carried until 1984 and was later laid up in Salisbury Cathedral.
On 8 June 1984, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, presented the regiment with its second and final stand of Colours at Howe Barracks, Canterbury. Those Colours were carried until the regiment's amalgamation and were subsequently laid up at The Wardrobe.
DERR's inherited honour roll reached back through the 49th, 66th, 62nd and 99th Foot and included campaigns from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the two World Wars. Representative inherited honours included Louisburg, Ferozeshah, Kandahar 1880, Tofrek, Mons, Le Cateau, Anzio, Kohima and Burma 1942–45. The Colours selected a representative part of that much larger inherited record.
Amalgamation and Later Lineage
DERR's final operational tour ended in 1993. In the months that followed the regiment carried out its final Ferozeshah parade, freedom marches across Berkshire and Wiltshire and a thanksgiving service at Salisbury Cathedral.
The regiment ceased to exist on 26 April 1994. On 27 April 1994, The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment formally entered the Army Order of Battle, bringing DERR together with The Gloucestershire Regiment.
The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment retained several DERR distinctions. The lineage later passed into The Rifles in 2007.
Collecting the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment Cap Badge
Two Distinct Cap-Badge Periods
The first point when identifying DERR insignia is the date. The regiment wore the Wessex Brigade badge from 1959 until late 1969 and its own composite badge from late 1969 until 1994.
Documented Composite Pattern
National Army Museum examples confirm the central design of the composite badge: cross pattée, China Dragon and the surrounding naval-rope element. Surviving examples should be assessed against documented construction rather than colour alone.
Officer and Other-Ranks Examples
Officer and other-ranks badges vary in material, finish and construction. A brighter or more elaborate badge should not automatically be identified as an officer's pattern without considering manufacture, dimensions and fittings.
The Coronet Is Not a Reign Marker
The upper device is a ducal coronet, not St Edward's Crown or the Tudor Crown. The badge therefore does not divide into Queen's Crown and King's Crown versions in the way that many Crown-bearing British Army badges do.
The Brandywine Flash
The Brandywine Flash was a separate red cloth backing. A genuine metal DERR badge surviving without its flash is therefore not automatically incomplete as a collectable item, although the flash formed part of the worn beret arrangement.
Originals and Modern Display Pieces
Authenticity should be judged from the complete object: construction, material, reverse fittings, dimensions, maker, wear and provenance. Modern licensed display pieces are commemorative objects and should not be confused with service-issued cap badges.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment formed?
9 June 1959, at Albany Barracks, Parkhurst, on the Isle of Wight.
Which regiments formed DERR?
The Royal Berkshire Regiment (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and The Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's).
Did DERR wear the same cap badge throughout its existence?
No. It wore the Wessex Brigade badge until late 1969, then its own composite Berkshire-and-Wiltshire badge until 1994.
Why is there a dragon on the badge?
The China Dragon came from the Royal Berkshire Regiment and ultimately the 49th Foot's service in the First China War.
What does the rope represent?
The double coil of naval rope commemorates the marine and Royal Navy associations inherited through the 49th Foot.
What is the Brandywine Flash?
A separate red cloth backing inherited from the Royal Berkshire tradition and worn behind the metal cap badge.
How many Victoria Crosses are associated with DERR's parent regiments?
The Royal Berkshire and Wiltshire lineages brought eight regimental Victoria Crosses into DERR's inherited history: six from the Berkshire lineage and two from the Wiltshire lineage. None was won under the DERR title itself.
What were DERR's principal regimental days?
Maiwand Day, inherited from the Royal Berkshire tradition, and Ferozeshah Day, inherited from the Wiltshire tradition.
What was DERR's regimental march?
The quick march was The Farmer's Boy; the slow march was Auld Robin Grey. Rule Britannia was also closely associated with the regiment's naval traditions.
When did DERR cease to exist?
DERR ceased to exist as a separate regiment on 26 April 1994. The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment formally came into being the following day.
Legacy
DERR existed for almost thirty-five years, from 1959 to 1994. During that period it developed an identity recognisably its own while retaining Berkshire and Wiltshire traditions in its badge, Colours, music, regimental days and mess customs.
Its history was dominated by Cold War soldiering, repeated service in Northern Ireland and overseas postings ranging from Libya and Cyprus to Germany and Hong Kong. The regiment's final years carried that experience into the air-mobile role before its 1994 amalgamation.
The Berkshire and Wiltshire lineage continued through RGBW and now forms part of The Rifles.
Museums & Archives
- The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum — The Wardrobe, Salisbury preserves the principal DERR collection, together with the histories of the Royal Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiments.
- National Army Museum, London holds DERR insignia, photographs and related material.
- The National Archives holds official records relevant to DERR's operations, establishments and predecessor regiments.
Further Reading
- The Wardrobe — The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire)
- The Wardrobe — Regimental Traditions
- The Wardrobe — Regimental Music
- The Wardrobe — Regimental Colours
- National Army Museum — The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment
- National Army Museum — Royal Berkshire Regiment
- National Army Museum — The Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment)
- Lt Col D. J. A. Stone — Cold War Warriors: The Story of the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire), 9th June 1959–27th April 1994, Leo Cooper / Pen & Sword, 1998.
- J. A. Barrow — The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire), 1971.
- Martin McIntyre — The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire), Tempus, 2007.
- A. L. Kipling & H. L. King — Head-Dress Badges of the British Army.
Officially Licensed Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment Emblems and Heritage Displays
Precision Military Emblems produces officially MOD-licensed Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment display pieces from approved artwork.
- Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment Cap Badge | Officially Licensed
- Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment Cap Badge Display Frame | Officially Licensed
- Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment Cap Badge | Brandywine Flash | Officially Licensed
These are modern commemorative display pieces rather than original service-issued 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 badge display pieces and framed heritage displays in Leicestershire. The Military Heritage series is researched from regimental, museum, government, archival and institutional sources.