The Royal Regiment of Scotland

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The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Cap Badge of The Royal Regiment of Scotland
Active 28 March 2006-
Country United Kingdom
Branch Army
Type Line Infantry
Role 1st Battalion - Light Role
2nd Battalion - Light Role
3rd Battalion - Armoured
4th Battalion - Armoured
5th Battalion - Air Assault/Light Role
6th Battalion - TA Reserve
7th Battalion - TA Reserve
Size Seven battalions
Part of Scottish Division
Garrison/HQ 1st Battalion - Edinburgh
2nd Battalion - Edinburgh
3rd Battalion - Holywood
4th Battalion - Fallingbostel, Germany
5th Battalion - Canterbury
Motto Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (No One Assails Me With Impunity) (Latin)
March Quick - Scotland the Brave
Commanders
Colonel in Chief HM The Queen
Colonel of
the Regiment		 Major General William Euan Buchanan Loudon, CBE
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Tartan Government

The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the senior line infantry regiment and only Scottish regiment of the British Army infantry. It consists of five regular battalions, each formerly an individual regiment (with the exception of one battalion, which will be a merger of two regiments), and two battalions of the Territorial Army. However, it is expected that each battalion will be allowed to maintain its former regimental pipes and drums to carry on their regimental traditions.

Contents

[edit] History

As part of restructuring in the British Army, the Royal Regiment of Scotland's creation was announced by the Secretary of State for Defence Geoff Hoon in the House of Commons on 16 December 2004, after the merger of several regiments was outlined in a defence white paper several months earlier.

The regiment consists of a total of five battalions: one of these was formed by the amalgamation of the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers, while the others are each formed from one of the remaining Scottish regiments. Of all of the new regiments formed following the announcement of 16 December 2004, the Royal Regiment of Scotland is the only one where the former regimental titles have been retained with the new battalion designations as subtitles (see below). There is however a common badge for regimental staff, but distinctions such as the historical badges and hackles will be retained by the battalions.

The creation of large regiments through the merger of long established units has affected most of the British Army over the past thirty years. The process has until now impacted mainly on English, Welsh and Northern Irish regiments. The creation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland has encountered considerable opposition amongst both former soldiers and Scottish nationalist groups. It has been argued that the establishment of large regiments elsewhere in the British Army has quickly led to a loss of separate identity amongst the constituent battalions as personnel are posted back and forward. The new regiment is a kilted one and there are concerns that the much older Lowland units (who wore trews) will effectively disappear into a Highland ethos. The Ministry of Defence case that change was necessary to enhance professional efficiency, to improve conditions of service and to resolve recruiting and retention problems among some Scottish units appears to have been accepted by the majority of serving personnel. The insistence in some quarters that the Scottish regiments must be treated as a special case has not won wide support amongst the army at large.

The amalgamation remains an emotional one however because of the symbolic loss of the individual regiments' history and status. An organization called Save the Scottish Regiments [1] was created to campaign against the plan, and the influential newspaper The Scotsman also opposed it.

The status of the Black Watch has been particularly controversial. When the plan to amalgamate the regiments was announced, the Black Watch was on duty in a dangerous part of Iraq. Hoon was accused of "stabbing the soldiers in the back" and being motivated purely by political concerns.

In August 2005, the new cap badge was unveiled for regimental staff - it incorporates the Saltire of St Andrew and the Lion Rampant, which are two recognisable symbols of Scotland. As a Royal regiment, the cap badge is surmounted by a crown, in this case the Crown of Scotland. The regiment's motto is 'Nemo me impune lacessit' (no one assails me with impunity) - this is one of the mottos of Scotland, and is also the motto of several of the then-existing Scottish regiments.

The regiment was initially formed of six regular battalions on March 28, 2006. On August 1 2006, the Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion will be amalgamated into the 1st Battalion, leaving the final regular roll of five battalions.

[edit] Organisation

All regular battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, to preserve regional ties and former regimental indentites, took the name of their former individual regiments.

Note 1: Royal Scots Borderers is the name of the combined Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers battalion.

Under the restructuring and the end of the arms plot, each battalion will be given a specific role:

The light role battalions will rotate periodically, with either the Royal Scots Borderers or Royal Highland Fusiliers having responsibility for public duties in Edinburgh. The air assault battalion will rotate this role with two other line infantry battalions. The armoured infantry battalion will remain in its fixed location.

The regiment's Colonel-in-Chief will be HM The Queen. The colonels-in-chief of the constituent regiments making up the new regiment will become the Royal Colonels of their representative battalions:

[edit] Alliances

The status of previous alliances is unclear at this time, and it is believed that previous regimental alliances will not automatically be carried over to The Royal Regiment of Scotland. It is also unclear if alliances will be perpetuated by single battalions of the Royal Regiment, or to the regiment as a whole. Until such time as the issue is decided, individual battalions will maintain the alliances of their antecedent regiments.

[edit] Order of Precedence

Preceded by:
Welsh Guards		 Infantry Order of Precedence Succeeded by:
Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
(Queen's and Royal Hampshires)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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