Lovat Scouts (Post-1922 Pattern) Glengarry-Balmoral Cap Badge, Restrike

Lovat Scouts glengarry-balmoral cap badge, an original example of the pattern worn from 1922 by the Lovat Scouts of the British Army. This Scottish Highland yeomanry cap badge displays the recognised regimental insignia in clear relief, incorporating a stag’s head caboshed as the central device, facing left, mounted on a torse, and encircled by a garter strap bearing the motto “Je Suis Prest” (French: “I Am Ready”). The composition reflects the heraldic traditions of the Frasers of Lovat, from whose clan arms the badge device is directly derived, and the fieldcraft heritage of the regiment.

The Lovat Scouts were raised in January 1900 by Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat, for service in the Second Boer War, recruited principally from Highland stalkers, gamekeepers, and ghillies whose skills in marksmanship and fieldcraft could match those of the Boer forces. The stag’s head and the motto “Je Suis Prest” are the crest and motto of the Frasers of Lovat, and were adopted directly as the regimental badge from the regiment’s formation, carrying the personal heraldic identity of the founding family into the corps insignia. The regiment underwent several pattern changes in its badge during its early history: the original pre-1903 pattern carried the motto “Je Suis Prest” on the garter strap; a second pattern introduced around 1903 replaced this with a scroll inscribed “Lovat’s Scouts”; and the post-1922 pattern restored the original “Je Suis Prest” garter, in which form the badge continued for the remainder of the regiment’s existence. The Lovat Scouts served with distinction in the First World War, and during the Second World War garrisoned the Faroe Islands before undertaking mountain warfare training in Canada and serving in the Italian Campaign. In 1916, the regiment was formally recognised as the British Army’s first dedicated sniper unit. The regiment was disbanded on 31 March 1967 and absorbed into the 3rd Battalion Queen’s Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons).

Manufactured in white metal consistent with the post-1922 production standard for this badge, this original example displays the traditional regimental pattern as worn through the interwar period and the Second World War. Lovat Scouts post-1922 pattern glengarry badges are collected as examples of Scottish Highland yeomanry militaria, regimental insignia of the specialist reconnaissance and sniper units of the British Army, and original headdress hardware of the Second World War British Army.

Dimensions Approx. 54mm x 46mm

Condition As new