The Welsh Guards: History, Cap Badge, Regimental Crest, Symbolism & Collecting Guide

Introduction

The Welsh Guards are the fifth and youngest regiment of Foot Guards. Raised during the First World War, they first mounted the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace on St David's Day 1915, sailed for France on 17 August and fought their first battle at Loos on 27 September. In the century since, the Regiment has combined front-line infantry service with the State Ceremonial duties expected of the Foot Guards.

The Welsh Guards service cap badge is the leek. The larger crowned device reproduced in the Precision Military Emblems range is a different piece of regimental insignia, described in Welsh Guards material as the Welsh Guards Crest. The displays shown here reproduce that crest from MOD-approved artwork under licence; they are not enlarged service cap badges.

About This Guide

This guide follows the Welsh Guards from 1915 to the present day, covering the Regiment's wartime service, Victoria Crosses, Colours, uniform distinctions, cap badge, crest and modern operational role.

The Welsh Guards are also a distinct lineage from The Royal Welsh, the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the former Welsh Regiment. Their histories should not be merged merely because each has a Welsh identity.

Key Dates in Welsh Guards History

Date	Event
26 February 1915	The Welsh Guards are raised by order of King George V during the First World War.
1 March 1915	The new Regiment mounts the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace for the first time, on St David's Day.
17 August 1915	1st Battalion sails for France to join the Guards Division.
27 September 1915	First battle, at Loos.
9–10 September 1916	Severe fighting at Ginchy during the Somme campaign.
31 July 1917	Sergeant Robert James Bye earns the Regiment's first Victoria Cross during Third Ypres.
1929	The battalion serves with the Cairo Brigade before moving on to Gibraltar.
May 1939	2nd Battalion is raised.
24 May 1940	Lieutenant Christopher Furness earns a posthumous Victoria Cross during the withdrawal from Arras.
October 1941	3rd Battalion is raised.
June 1944	1st and 2nd Battalions land in Normandy with the Guards Armoured Division.
3 September 1944	Welsh Guards units enter Brussels during its liberation.
1947–48	1st Battalion serves in Mandate Palestine.
1950–52	Service with the British Army of the Rhine in Germany.
1953–56	Service in the Canal Zone in Egypt.
1965	Deployment to Aden.
1970s	Operational tours in Northern Ireland; the battalion also serves with the United Nations force in Cyprus from late 1975 into 1976.
8 June 1982	Argentine aircraft attack RFA Sir Galahad at Fitzroy during the Falklands campaign.
2003 & 2004–05	Welsh Guards deploy to Iraq during Operation TELIC; the Army lists TELIC 5 in 2005 among the Regiment's recent operational deployments.
2009 & 2012	Operation HERRICK tours in Afghanistan.
2010	No. 2 Company takes part in the 65th-anniversary Victory Parade in Moscow, the first British military contingent to participate in the modern Red Square parade.
2018	Operation TORAL 6 in Afghanistan.
December 2022	The Prince of Wales becomes Colonel, Welsh Guards.
August 2026	1st Battalion begins a two-year posting at Episkopi Garrison, Cyprus, initially serving as the Cyprus Operations Battalion.
Today	The battalion is serving in Cyprus; Combermere Barracks, Windsor, remains its UK home station. In the second year of the posting it is due to become the Regional Operations Battalion.

Raised for War: The Formation of the Welsh Guards

The Welsh Guards were created during the First World War as a new regiment of Foot Guards rather than as the continuation of an older Welsh infantry regiment. On 26 February 1915, King George V signed the Royal Warrant authorising the formation of a Welsh regiment of Foot Guards. Earl Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, had pressed the case that the Brigade of Guards should represent every part of the United Kingdom.

Welshmen were transferred from other Guards regiments to provide an experienced nucleus, enabling the new battalion to mount the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace on 1 March 1915, St David's Day. That date has remained a regimental day ever since.

1st Battalion Welsh Guards sailed for France on 17 August 1915 and joined the Guards Division. Its first battle was Loos on 27 September. The wartime establishment also included a Reserve Battalion, which was disbanded in 1919.

The First World War

Loos was the Regiment's baptism of fire. Thereafter 1st Battalion remained on the Western Front. During the Somme fighting of 1916 it was heavily engaged at Ginchy; the Regiment's honours for that campaign also include Flers-Courcelette and Morval.

In 1917 the Welsh Guards fought at Ypres, earning honours including Pilckem, Poelcappelle and Passchendaele, and later at Cambrai. The 1918 campaign brought Bapaume, Arras and Albert, followed by Havrincourt, the Hindenburg Line and Canal du Nord, then the Selle and Sambre during the final Allied advance.

Sergeant Robert James Bye VC

The Regiment's first Victoria Cross was won by No. 939 Sergeant Robert James Bye, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, on 31 July 1917, the opening day of the Third Battle of Ypres. Bye was serving in the Pilckem sector, around Wood 15 north-east of Boezinge.

The London Gazette records that two enemy blockhouses were troubling the leading waves of the attack. Bye acted without waiting for an order, rushed one of the positions and put its garrison out of action. He then rejoined his company and continued with the advance. Later, when a party was required to clear blockhouses that had been passed, he volunteered to lead it, completed the task and took prisoners before moving on again to support the troops at the third objective.

The citation emphasises Bye's initiative throughout the action. His award was announced on 6 September 1917, and King George V invested him with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 26 September. It was the first of the Welsh Guards' two Victoria Crosses.

Between the Wars

Much of the inter-war period was spent on ceremonial duties in London, interrupted by overseas postings. Regimental records place 1st Battalion in Cologne; in 1929 it served with the Cairo Brigade before moving to Gibraltar, where it was stationed when the Second World War began.

The Second World War

The Second World War expanded the Welsh Guards from one regular battalion to three, each of which followed a distinct wartime path.

1st Battalion

1st Battalion served in France and Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939–40. It fought around Arras during the withdrawal and, with the remnants of 2nd Battalion, was evacuated through Dunkirk. After rebuilding in Britain it served as the Welsh Guards infantry battalion within the Guards Armoured Division. It landed in Normandy in June 1944 and fought through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and into Germany.

2nd Battalion

2nd Battalion was raised in May 1939. Sent to France in May 1940, it fought in the defence of Boulogne before evacuation. It was later converted from infantry to armour and, by the North-West Europe campaign, served as the Guards Armoured Division's 2nd Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion, Welsh Guards. Its Cromwell tanks performed the divisional reconnaissance role from Normandy through Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

3rd Battalion

3rd Battalion was raised in October 1941 and served with Eighth Army in Tunisia and Italy. Its battle honours include Fondouk and Hammam Lif in North Africa, followed in Italy by Monte Ornito, the Liri Valley, the Gothic Line and Battaglia. The battalion ended the war in the Adige area of the Po Valley.

Lieutenant The Honourable Christopher Furness VC

The Welsh Guards' second Victoria Cross belongs to the fighting around Arras in May 1940. Lieutenant The Honourable Christopher Furness, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, commanded the Carrier Platoon while his battalion formed part of the Arras garrison between 17 and 24 May.

On 23 May Furness was wounded while patrolling but refused evacuation. During the withdrawal towards Douai in the early hours of the following morning, his platoon and a small force of light tanks were ordered to cover a transport column of more than forty vehicles. Enemy troops reached the withdrawal road and brought the column under heavy small-arms and anti-tank fire.

Furness attacked with three carriers supported by the light tanks. The tanks were put out of action and all three carriers were hit. His own vehicle was disabled, its driver and Bren gunner killed, and Furness continued the fight on foot until he was killed. The Gazette states that the attack forced the enemy back temporarily, allowing the transport column to get clear and enabling some of the wounded to be evacuated.

His Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously and announced on 7 February 1946. It was the Regiment's second VC.

Brussels, 3 September 1944

On 3 September 1944, the Guards Armoured Division made a rapid advance into Brussels. Welsh Guards regimental history records 1st and 2nd Battalions working together as the first troops to re-enter the Belgian capital, after an advance of about 100 miles in a day. The armoured 2nd Battalion, equipped with Cromwell tanks in the reconnaissance role, was at the front of the Welsh Guards advance.

The action is commemorated by the battle honour BRUSSELS.

Post-War Service

The wartime expansion did not survive demobilisation. 3rd Battalion was disbanded and 2nd Battalion was placed in suspended animation, leaving 1st Battalion to carry the Regiment's active service into the post-war period.

The battalion served in Mandate Palestine in 1947–48, with the British Army of the Rhine in Germany from 1950 to 1952, and in the Canal Zone in Egypt from 1953 to 1956. It deployed to Aden in 1965, undertook tours in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and served with the United Nations force in Cyprus from late 1975 into 1976. Regimental history also records later service in Germany, Northern Ireland and Belize.

The Falklands War and Sir Galahad

In 1982, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards deployed to the South Atlantic as part of 5 Infantry Brigade. The battalion's heaviest losses came at Fitzroy on 8 June 1982, when Argentine aircraft attacked RFA Sir Galahad.

The National Army Museum records 32 Welsh Guardsmen killed in the Sir Galahad attack, with many more wounded. That figure relates specifically to the attack on the ship. The Regiment's own Falklands Roll of Honour is broader, including Welsh Guards, attached personnel and three men of G Squadron 22 SAS; it is therefore not a Sir Galahad casualty list.

The battalion remained operational after the attack. Welsh Guardsmen took part in the final stages of the campaign, and the Regiment was awarded the battle honour FALKLAND ISLANDS 1982.

The Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan

Welsh Guards served on peace-support duties in Bosnia, including deployments in 2002 and 2006–07, and Regimental history records service in Kosovo. The Regiment also deployed to Iraq during Operation TELIC: the National Army Museum records tours in 2003 and 2004–05, while the Army's current unit history lists TELIC 5 in 2005.

In Afghanistan the battalion served on Operation HERRICK 10 in 2009 and HERRICK 16 in 2012, returning on Operation TORAL 6 in 2018. The 2009 tour in Helmand included the death of the battalion's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe MBE, killed by an improvised explosive device on 1 July. TORAL 6 formed part of the later train, advise and assist mission in Kabul.

In May 2010, No. 2 Company represented the British Army at the 65th-anniversary Victory Parade in Moscow. It was the first British military contingent to take part in the modern Red Square parade, an unusual ceremonial episode in the Regiment's post-Cold War history.

St David's Day and the Leek

St David's Day has been part of Welsh Guards life from the Regiment's first week. The battalion mounted the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace on 1 March 1915, and the date has since been observed as a regimental day.

The modern observance includes a service, parade and the presentation of leeks. In 2023, after becoming Colonel, Welsh Guards, the Prince of Wales presented leeks at the St David's Day parade.

The Welsh Guards Cap Badge: The Leek

The leek is the Welsh Guards service cap badge. The British Army states that it has been worn since the Regiment's formation. National Army Museum records include a Welsh Guards staff-sergeants' and bandsmen's cap badge sealed in 1915 and a gilt-metal shoulder title, also sealed in 1915, with the title beneath a leek.

The leek's association with Wales and St David is much older than the Regiment. Stories of Welsh soldiers wearing leeks in medieval battle belong to national tradition rather than securely documented military history. For the Welsh Guards, the evidence is straightforward: the leek was adopted as regimental insignia when the Regiment was raised in 1915.

How to Identify a Welsh Guardsman in Full Dress

The Foot Guards deliberately share a common broad appearance in State Ceremonial dress, so regimental identity lies in details. For the Welsh Guards those details are especially clear:

• Buttons: arranged in groups of five, reflecting the Welsh Guards' position as the fifth Foot Guards regiment.
• Collar badge: the leek.
• Bearskin plume: white-green-white.
• Plume position: the left side of the bearskin.

These are uniform distinctions. They are separate from the crowned Welsh Guards Crest used on other regimental material and reproduced in the modern display range.

The Welsh Guards Crest as a Modern MOD-Approved Display Reproduction

The crowned device reproduced in the current Precision Military Emblems range should be distinguished from the service cap badge. Welsh Guards regimental material calls it the Welsh Guards Crest. The same source distinguishes between military cap badges and crests, and notes that the crest appears on a range of regimental items including wall plaques, lapel badges, ties and wreath centres.

Precision Military Emblems reproduces this Welsh Guards Crest as a substantial three-dimensional MOD-approved display. It is enlarged for wall display from authorised military artwork and is not a service-size wearable badge.

The live product range currently uses the word Cypher in its commercial titles: the Welsh Guards Cypher Queen's Crown and Welsh Guards Cypher King's Crown, with matching framed versions. In regimental terminology, however, the complete crowned device is better described as the Welsh Guards Crest. A Royal Cypher is properly the Sovereign's monogram; it is not a general term for every crowned regimental device.

The Welsh Guards Regimental Magazine explains that the crest used during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II carried the Crown commonly called the “Queen's Crown”. Following the accession of King Charles III, the crest required revision to incorporate the new Heraldic Royal Crown — often described commercially as a “King's Crown”, although the Regimental Magazine itself notes that this is not the formal heraldic term. The change is gradual, so Queen's-Crown-pattern items remain historically correct for the period in which they were issued or produced.

Cymru Am Byth and the Colours

King George V approved the designs for the 1st Battalion's Colours on 2 March 1915, and presented the first pair at Buckingham Palace on 3 August 1915, shortly before the battalion left for France. Regimental records describe the Sovereign's Colour as crimson, with a gold dragon above a scroll bearing CYMRU AM BYTH, conventionally translated as “Wales for ever”.

On the 1st Battalion's Sovereign's Colour — the King's Colour when the first pair was presented in 1915 — the dragon and Cymru Am Byth sit within a different heraldic setting from the leek cap badge. Company badges are borne in rotation on the Regimental Colour, while the crowned Welsh Guards Crest has its own regimental uses.

The Regiment Today

1st Battalion Welsh Guards remains a Light Role Infantry battalion, with Combermere Barracks, Windsor, as its UK home station and Regimental Headquarters at Wellington Barracks in London. Since August 2026, however, the battalion has been serving at Episkopi Garrison, Cyprus, at the start of a two-year posting with British Forces Cyprus. During the first year it is serving as the Cyprus Operations Battalion; in the second it is due to become the Regional Operations Battalion, held at readiness for possible deployment across the Middle East and North Africa.

The posting does not alter the Regiment's dual professional identity. Welsh Guardsmen remain front-line infantry soldiers, while State Ceremonial remains a core regimental responsibility when the battalion is assigned to public duties. The Prince of Wales is Colonel, Welsh Guards, an appointment made in December 2022 and still used in Royal Household records in 2026. The King is Colonel-in-Chief of the Household Division.

Further Reading

Selected authoritative sources used for this article:

• The British Army — The Welsh Guards
• Welsh Guards Charity — Regimental History
• The Guards Museum — Foot Guards Uniforms and Insignia
• National Army Museum — The Welsh Guards
• National Army Museum Collection — Welsh Guards badges and sealed patterns
• Victoria Cross and George Cross Association — Robert James Bye VC

View full research source list

• The British Army — Welsh Guards St David's Day tradition and 2026 Cyprus deployment preparation
• Forces News — 1st Battalion Welsh Guards begins its two-year Cyprus posting, August 2026
• Ministry of Defence — Welsh Guards at the 2010 Moscow Victory Parade
• The London Gazette — Robert Bye VC, 6 September 1917
• The London Gazette — Christopher Furness VC, 7 February 1946
• GOV.UK — Tudor Crown adopted for King Charles III's official Crown representation
• Ministry of Defence — Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe MBE, Afghanistan, 2009
• Welsh Guards Regimental Magazine 2022 — Welsh Guards Crest and change of heraldic Crown
• Welsh Guards Regimental Magazine — Colours and Battle Honours
• Welsh Guards — Falkland Islands 1982 Roll of Honour
• The Guards Museum — Formation of the Guards Regiments
• National Army Museum — The British Army and the Falklands War
• The Royal Family — Welsh Guards St David's Day Parade, 2023
• The Royal Family — Military appointments in the Household Division
• The Royal Family — Court Circular, 12 June 2026: The Prince of Wales, Colonel, Welsh Guards
• College of Arms — Royal Cypher of King Charles III

Officially MOD-Approved Welsh Guards Crest Displays

The crowned Welsh Guards design featured here is reproduced by Precision Military Emblems from approved military artwork and produced under licence from the UK Ministry of Defence for commemorative and display purposes. In Welsh Guards regimental terminology, the complete device is the Welsh Guards Crest; it is separate from the leek cap badge worn in service.

The products are currently listed as the Welsh Guards Cypher Queen's Crown and Welsh Guards Cypher King's Crown. Both are large three-dimensional wall displays rather than service-issued wearable insignia, and each is available in a matching deep shadow-box frame.

Intellectual Property of the Secretary of State for Defence is used under licence.

About Precision Military Emblems

Precision Military Emblems produces officially MOD-licensed three-dimensional British military display pieces and deep shadow-box frames in Leicestershire. The Military Heritage series is researched against Army, government, regimental, museum and specialist gallantry sources, with service insignia, Royal devices and modern licensed display reproductions kept distinct where the historical record requires it.

Conclusion

Raised in February 1915, the Welsh Guards were in action at Loos seven months later. Their subsequent record runs through the Western Front, the campaigns of 1940 and 1943–45, Brussels, Palestine, Germany, Egypt, Aden, Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, and now a two-year posting in Cyprus. State Ceremonial is the most visible part of the Regiment's public life, but it has always existed alongside operational soldiering.

The leek remains the Welsh Guards service cap badge. The crowned Welsh Guards Crest is a separate regimental device, reproduced by Precision Military Emblems as a large MOD-approved display under licence in Queen's-Crown and King's-Crown-pattern versions.