Buttons


The yellow metal buttons were for officers and sergeants and the pewter buttons were for other ranks. The 1770 type may have come in when the order was made in 1767 that all infantry buttons should bear the regimental number. This button can be seen on the portrait of Thomas Twistleton 1769. The next pattern, seen on the coat worn by Captain Needham, incorporates a star but it is not until a few years later that the star of the Order of the Thistle is used. The buttons of 1780 were found in America so were worn during the War of American Independence. The smaller button may have been from a waistcoat. Strangely the cross of St Andrew is angled wrongly, pointing north south, east west. The correct cross with a plain thistle in the middle can be seen on buttons in the prints by Edward Dayes in 1792 but by 1808 the buttons had included the motto NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT.

The title of the regiment changed in 1831 to Scots Fusilier Guards and a new pattern was ordered by the Duke of Gloucester, having a Hanoverian crown at the top of the badge. This was used in gilt for officers and senior NCOs. A similar pattern has been used continuously up to the present day, apart from the change in shape of the crown.


Uniforms | Regimental Details


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by Stephen Luscombe