South African Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Rifles Button – 25mm

Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Rifles uniform button in brass finish, produced in the pattern worn by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Rifles of the South African Army. This South African Army rifle regiment uniform button displays the recognised regimental device in clear relief, incorporating a thistle as the principal device, with the regiment’s title encircling a central thistle, surmounted by a Royal Ducal Coronet at the topmost point. The reverse carries a shank loop for attachment. The composition reflects the Scottish volunteer heritage of the regiment and the personal patronage of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, after whom the regiment was named.

The regiment was founded on 28 November 1855 as the Cape Rifle Corps, the first volunteer unit in the Cape Colony, and was successively known as the Cape Royal Rifles and the Cape Town Volunteer Rifles before Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, granted the title “Duke of Edinburgh’s Own” on 30 September 1867, following the regiment’s formation of a guard of honour for him during a visit to Cape Town. The thistle device reflect the strong Scottish character of the regiment in its early decades, when a Scottish company formed a significant element of its establishment. The regiment served in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), in German South West Africa during the First World War, and subsequently as part of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade during the East African and North African campaigns of the Second World War, earning eleven battle honours across those two campaigns. The regiment was subsequently redesignated the Cape Town Rifles in 1964, adopting new insignia at that point, and was renamed the Chief Langalibalele Rifles in 2019.

Manufactured in brass, consistent with South African Army rifle regiment uniform button production of the post-1903 period, this 25mm example provides a well-defined representation of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Rifles regimental device. Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Rifles buttons are collected as examples of South African colonial and Active Citizen Force militaria, uniform accessories of the traditional Cape Town volunteer regiments, and regimental hardware associated with the oldest volunteer regiment of the Cape Colony.

Dimensions 25mm in diameter

Condition Very good