Distinctions
DISTINCTIONS
The Regiment has been honoured with many distinctions, a full list can be found in the The Duke of Lancaster's Regimental Handbook.
CAP BADGE
Our cap badge is the Red Rose of Lancaster surmounted by the Royal Crown and surrounded by a Fontenoy laurel wreath, with the regimental motto on a scroll beneath the rose.
The Lion Of England
A pair of silver Lions of England are worn as collar badges. King William III (William of Orange) conferred this unique honour of bearing this royal badge on the 4th, or King’s Own, Regiment of Foot for being one of the first to go over to his side when he landed at Torbay in 1688. We are privileged to be the only regiment to wear the emblem on our uniform and to be called the "Lions Of England".
The Glider
This distinction was awarded to The Border Regiment by King George VI in 1949 in recognition of the part played in the airborne invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Our forebears were also involved in equally daring glider-borne operations on the other side of the world in March 1944 where they were flown into jungle clearings in Burma as part of the famous Chindit force, fighting deep behind Japanese lines.
Fleur-de-Lys
Our button bears a silver Fleur-de-Lys mounted on gold. This emblem was adopted by the predecessors of The Manchester Regiment in commemoration of their early service against the French in the West Indies. A large silver Fleur-de-Lys was worn on officers’ epaulettes as early as 1780.