Look down a list of British Army regiments and roughly half carry the word Royal. The other half don't. It isn't random, and it isn't seniority.
It is granted, not claimed
"Royal" is an honour conferred by the monarch. A regiment cannot adopt it, vote for it or assume it with age. It is given — usually for distinguished service, sometimes to mark a royal colonel-in-chief, occasionally as part of a reorganisation.
The Royal Regiment of Artillery received its title in 1720. The Royal Engineers in 1787. Others waited far longer, and some of the most decorated regiments in the Army have never received it at all.
Not having it means nothing about quality
The Parachute Regiment is not Royal. Neither is The Rifles, the Mercian Regiment or the Yorkshire Regiment. Nobody would argue those are lesser formations.
What it does reflect is history — when a regiment was raised, what it did, and who was paying attention at the time.
Where you actually see it
The title shows up in three places on kit, and all three are things we stock:
- Cap badges — usually spelled out in full, often with a crown above.
- Stable belts — each regiment has its own colours, and Royal regiments frequently use blue and red combinations tied to their royal association.
- Buttons and titles — shoulder titles carry the abbreviation, so RE, RA, RLC and RRF all encode it.
Royal Anglian Style Heavy Duty Stable Belt Material Width 75mm Assorted Leng
Shop regimental stable belt material →
British Army Royal Logistic Corps Other Ranks Dress Hat Badge RLC
Shop Royal Logistic Corps badges →
A note for collectors
When a regiment gains or loses the title in an amalgamation, its insignia changes with it — which instantly dates any badge you are holding. A pre-amalgamation badge from a regiment that later became Royal is a different object, and usually a scarcer one, than the version that replaced it.
Genuine British Army RA Royal Artillery Regimental Trouser Belt Material 28m
The other honours a regiment can carry
"Royal" is the best known but it is not the only granted title, and several carry more weight than people realise:
- King's / Queen's — as in The King's Own Scottish Borderers. Distinct from Royal and generally older.
- Prince of Wales's / Duke of Edinburgh's — a specific royal patron rather than the Crown generally.
- Honourable — carried by exactly one, the Honourable Artillery Company, and it dates from 1537.
It can be lost
Not through disgrace — through amalgamation. When two regiments merge, the new formation gets a new title, and the honour does not automatically carry across.
The Royal Green Jackets were Royal. The Rifles, formed in 2007 partly from them, is not. Nothing was taken away; a new regiment simply started without it.
How it shows in the badge
Royal regiments very often carry a crown in the badge, and frequently the royal cypher — the reigning monarch's initials. That is useful twice over: it marks the regiment as Royal, and the cypher dates the badge to a specific reign.
A badge with EIIR is 1952–2022. GVIR is 1936–1952. The cypher is often a sharper dating tool than the crown itself.
The facings tell you too
Historically, Royal regiments wore blue facings — the collar and cuff colour on the old red coats. Non-royal English regiments wore buff, white, green, yellow and others.
That convention survives in modern dress uniform in traces: piping colours, mess dress facings and stable belt colours often still reflect it. It is why so many Royal regiments have blue running through their belt.
Some regiments earned it twice
The title can be granted, lost in an amalgamation, and granted again. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers carries "Royal" from predecessor regiments that held it individually — the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers, the Royal Fusiliers and the Lancashire Fusiliers.
When regiments merge, whether the new formation keeps the title is decided case by case, and it has been a source of considerable feeling more than once.
Corps are almost all Royal
Notice the pattern: the supporting corps overwhelmingly carry it — Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, Royal Signals, Royal Logistic Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Royal Army Medical Corps.
Infantry regiments are far more mixed. That is partly historical accident and partly because corps were formed later, in periods when the honour was granted more readily.
Other honorifics you will see
- King's / Queen's — as in the King's Royal Hussars. Distinct from "Royal" and granted separately.
- Own — the King's Own Scottish Borderers. Denotes a direct personal connection to the sovereign.
- Princess of Wales's, Duke of Edinburgh's — a royal colonel-in-chief, carried in the regimental title.
Why it matters when buying insignia
A regiment's full title is usually on the badge, and getting the wording right is how you identify what you have. "Royal Anglian" and "Anglian" are different badges from different eras. So are "Royal Corps of Transport" and the "Royal Logistic Corps" that absorbed it in 1993.
If a listing gives you a partial title, ask for the full wording — it is usually the difference between a common badge and a scarce one.