Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort’s Own) (1953-1966 Pattern) Silver Plate Blazer Button – 20mm

Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort’s Own) blazer button in silver plate, produced in the Queen’s Crown pattern worn from 1953 to 1966 by officers and veterans of the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort’s Own) of the British Army. This British Army rifle regiment officer’s blazer button displays the recognised regimental device in clear relief, incorporating a strung bugle surrounded by a cirlcet bearing the regimental title “Rifle Brigade”, backed by the Maltese cross and surrounded by a wreath which would usually bear the various battle honours of the Rifle Brigade. This is all surmounted by the Queen’s crown — the whole struck in silver plate as a flat blazer button pattern. The silver plate finish is consistent with the officer’s and veterans’ private purchase blazer button production of the post-war period; the 1953 date reflects the adoption of the Queen’s Crown variant of this pattern following the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in February 1952.

The regiment traces its origins to January 1800, when it was raised as the Experimental Corps of Riflemen at the instigation of the Duke of York, drawing volunteers from across the existing infantry to form a specialist force of sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers armed with the Baker rifle in place of the smooth-bore musket. Redesignated the 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles) in 1803, the regiment served with extraordinary distinction throughout the Peninsular War as part of Sir John Moore’s Light Division and subsequently at Waterloo in 1815, accumulating a body of battle honours unmatched by any single regiment of the British Army. In 1816, the regiment was removed from the numbered line and retitled simply the Rifle Brigade, a unique distinction reflecting its status outside the normal regimental order of precedence. The regiment adopted the Guelphic crown as a badge device in 1820 under the colonelcy of the Duke of Wellington, who had been admitted to the Royal Guelphic Order in 1816, and the crown subsequently became indelibly associated with the regiment’s identity. HRH Prince Albert, Prince Consort, became Colonel of the regiment and the title “The Prince Consort’s Own” was conferred on 17 January 1862, following his death the previous year. The regiment served in both world wars and subsequently in post-war emergencies, including Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus. In 1958 it was retitled the 3rd Green Jackets (The Rifle Brigade) as part of the Green Jackets Brigade, and on 1 January 1966 it was amalgamated with the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) and the 2nd Green Jackets (King’s Royal Rifle Corps) to form the Royal Green Jackets, ending the continuous existence of the regiment as a distinct identity after 166 years.

Manufactured in silver plate consistent with British Army rifle regiment officer’s blazer button production of the 1953 to 1966 period, this example provides a well-defined representation of the Rifle Brigade blazer button in its final Queen’s Crown pattern. Rifle Brigade silver plate blazer buttons are collected as examples of British Army rifle regiment officers’ uniform accessories, regimental blazer hardware of the Green Jackets antecedent units, and insignia associated with one of the most celebrated regiments in the history of the British Army.

Dimensions 20mm diameter

Condition Very good