Collar Badges: What "Collar Dogs" Are and Why They Come in Pairs

October 31, 2026

Collar badges — universally called "collar dogs" — are the small matched badges worn on the lapels of a service dress or No2 Dress tunic. They are usually a smaller version of the cap badge, sometimes a simplified version, and occasionally a completely different device.

Why they come in pairs, and why it matters

One badge per lapel, and crucially they are often handed — a left and a right, made as mirror images so that both face inwards towards the buttons. On badges featuring an animal, a figure or anything else with a direction, this is obvious once you know to look.

This is the single most important thing to understand when buying. A "pair" of two identical badges both facing the same way is not a pair at all for a handed design — it is two lefts. And a genuine matched pair is worth substantially more than twice a single, because the pair is what completes a tunic.

How they differ from the cap badge

Size — noticeably smaller, so they sit on a lapel without dominating it.
Detail — often simplified, because the design has to survive being reduced.
Scrolls and mottoes — frequently dropped from the collar version, since there is no room.
Fixing — usually lugs and split pins rather than a slider, because they pass through a lapel rather than a cap band.

What to check before buying

Are they actually a pair? Hold them side by side. On a handed design they should mirror each other.
Do the finishes match? Two badges from different eras or different makers will differ in colour and sharpness, and it shows on a lapel even when it does not show in a photograph.
Are the lugs intact? Both lugs, on both badges. Snapped lugs are the most common fault and repairs show.
Crown and design — the same dating rules as any other badge apply, and a mismatched pair with different crowns is two badges rather than a pair.

Why they are good to collect

Collar badges do everything a cap badge collection does at a fraction of the price and a fraction of the shelf space. They cover the same regiments, they carry the same heraldry and the same dating information, and because they are smaller they are far easier to mount and display in numbers.

The catch is the pairing. Building a collection of matched pairs is considerably harder than collecting singles, which is exactly what makes it interesting.

Why they are called collar dogs

Nobody can point to a definitive origin, which is usually a sign that a piece of soldiers' slang is genuinely old. The most common explanation is simply that so many British regimental devices are animals — lions, stags, antelopes, horses, tigers, a dragon or two — that "dogs" became a catch-all for the little beasts sitting on either side of a collar.

Whatever the origin, the term is universal in the trade. If a listing says "collar dogs" it means collar badges, and if it says a pair, it should mean a genuine handed pair.

Mounting them on a tunic

Collar badges sit on the lapel, angled to follow the line of the collar rather than sitting bolt upright. The exact position and angle vary by regiment and by pattern of dress, and getting it wrong is one of the more visible errors on a display piece.

The practical method is the same as with a cap badge: put the tunic on a form, place the badges by eye, step back, adjust, and only then pierce the cloth. Every hole is permanent, and a lapel with three sets of old holes in it tells its own story about how many times somebody guessed.

What a pair is worth against a single

As a rough guide, a matched pair sells for considerably more than two singles of the same badge, and for some regiments the gap is dramatic. The reason is simple supply and demand: everyone restoring a tunic needs two, and singles accumulate in boxes because nobody can use them alone.

This works in your favour if you are collecting rather than restoring. Singles are cheap, they show the design just as well in a frame, and a collection of one hundred single collar badges costs a fraction of fifty pairs while telling exactly the same story.