We sell all three and they are not interchangeable. Here is which is which, and when each is worn.
The stable belt
The striped, coloured belt, usually in heavy cotton webbing with a leather strap-and-buckle or a metal locket fastening. The colours are regimental — they identify the wearer's unit as clearly as a cap badge.
The name comes from cavalry: it was worn in the stables, over working dress. Today it goes with barrack dress — shirt and trousers, working uniform, not parade.
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Genuine British Army REME Royal Electrical and Mechanical Stable Belt Materi
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The web belt
Plain, functional, usually green or black nylon or cotton webbing with a simple buckle. It has no regimental meaning at all.
Worn with combat dress and working uniform where a stable belt would be inappropriate or would get destroyed. Purely practical.
The Sam Browne
The wide brown leather officer's belt with the diagonal strap over the right shoulder. Named after General Sir Samuel Browne, who lost his left arm in 1858 and needed a way to steady his sword scabbard one-handed.
Worn with No1 and No2 dress by officers — and only by officers. It is not worn with barrack dress, and other ranks do not wear it at all.
The leather is issued undyed and traditionally polished to a deep mahogany by its owner over years. A well-worn Sam Browne looks nothing like a new one.
Quick answer
- Barrack dress, want your regiment's colours — stable belt.
- Combat or working dress — web belt.
- Officer, No1 or No2 dress — Sam Browne.
- Parade with No2, other ranks — usually a white or regimental ceremonial belt, not any of the above.
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If you are buying for a specific unit and order of dress and are not certain, ask us first. We would far rather answer the question than have you send it back.
Reading stable belt colours
The colours are not decorative — they usually come straight from the regiment's historic facings or its cap badge:
- Royal Engineers — blue, red, blue.
- Royal Artillery — blue, red.
- REME — blue, yellow, red.
- Royal Signals — navy, green, navy.
- RLC — blue, yellow, red.
Similar combinations recur, so the stripe widths and order matter as much as the colours. Two regiments with the same three colours in a different sequence are not interchangeable.
Buckles, lockets and plates
Stable belts fasten three different ways and the fastening is regimental too. The two-strap leather pattern buckles at the side. A locket is the flat metal clasp at the front. A plate carries the regimental device on it.
If you are buying belt material by the metre, work out which fastening you need before you cut — they need different lengths.
Looking after a Sam Browne
Issued undyed and darkened by its owner over years, traditionally with saddle soap and boot polish worked in slowly. That is why a well-worn one has a depth of colour a new one cannot fake.
Do not use modern shoe cream on old leather; it sits on the surface. Saddle soap first to clean, then a wax polish, and time. There is no shortcut and attempting one usually shows.
Ceremonial belts
Beyond the three main types there is the white buff belt worn on parade by many regiments, the cross belt worn over the shoulder by Rifles and some cavalry, and the waist sash worn by warrant officers and sergeants in some orders of dress.
If you are buying for a specific parade, tell us which and we will tell you what is actually worn rather than what merely looks right.
Reading a stable belt's colours
The stripes are not decorative. Each pattern belongs to a specific regiment or corps, and the colours usually come from the regiment's facings — the contrasting cuffs and collar of its old full dress uniform.
So a stable belt is, in a real sense, a Victorian dress uniform reduced to three stripes of webbing. The Royal Engineers' blue and red, the RLC's blue, yellow and red, the Royal Signals' dark blue, light blue and green: all inherited.
Locket, leather or Velcro
Three fastenings, and they signal different things:
- Twin leather straps with buckles — the traditional pattern, worn to the wearer's left.
- Metal locket plate — a regimental buckle at the front, often bearing the cap badge. Smarter, and usually the dress version.
- Velcro or clip — modern, practical, and not correct for anything ceremonial.
The Sam Browne in detail
Worn with the strap over the right shoulder, crossing to the left hip — because Sam Browne, having lost his left arm, needed the sword scabbard steadied on his left where his remaining hand could reach it.
It is issued in undyed russet leather. Traditionally an officer darkens it himself over years with polish and boning, and the depth of colour became an informal marker of service. A brand-new one is noticeably lighter than a well-worn one and there is no shortcut.
Ceremonial belts and buckles
Beyond those three there are white buff leather belts for ceremonial duties, regimental waist belts with locket plates, and the Household Cavalry's own patterns which follow rules of their own entirely.
If you are buying for a specific parade, the belt, the buckle and the fittings are three separate decisions — and the fittings are the ones people forget.