Royal Army Service Corps cap badge produced as a restrike of the pattern worn between 1937 and 1952 by the Royal Army Service Corps of the British Army. This British Army corps cap badge displays the recognised RASC device in clear relief, incorporating an eight-pointed multi-rayed star, the topmost point displaced by an Imperial King’s Crown, with the GRVI Royal Cypher of King George VI enclosed within the Garter bearing the motto “Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense” at the centre of the star, and around the lower half of the Garter a scroll bearing “Royal Army Service Corps”, with sprays of laurel joining the tops of the scroll to the crown. The composition reflects the heraldic traditions of the Royal Army Service Corps and the historic associations of its predecessor units.
The Army Service Corps was formed in 1870 to consolidate the supply and transport functions of the British Army, and was granted its “Royal” prefix in 1918 in recognition of its service during the First World War, at which point the scroll bearing the corps title was added below the Garter and the voided centre was revised to carry the Royal Cypher in place of the earlier “ASC” initials. The 1937 pattern represents a War Office-approved revision incorporating the GRVI cypher of King George VI, who acceded to the throne in December 1936. The GRVI cypher pattern remained in use until the death of King George VI in February 1952, when it was superseded by a Queen’s Crown pattern bearing the ERII cypher of Queen Elizabeth II. The corps itself continued under the RASC designation until July 1965, when it was reorganised as the Royal Corps of Transport.
Manufactured in gilding metal, this restrike example provides a sharply defined representation of the wartime and early post-war RASC headdress badge pattern. Royal Army Service Corps GRVI cypher cap badges are collected as examples of Second World War and early post-war British Army corps militaria, headdress insignia of the British Army’s supply and transport services, and historic uniform hardware of the wartime British Army.
Dimensions Approx. 40mm x 40mm
Condition Good, some tarnishing present
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