The bell-topped shako was worn by British officers of the Bengal Light Cavalry from the early 1820s. The first pattern badge was star-shaped but circa 1835 this was changed to the pattern seen here, referred to as a Maltese Cross or Cross Pattée. The studded patterns inside the gilt arms of the cross are silver as is the backing to the central device. The plain gilt numeral 3 is inside a garter inscribed BENGAL LIGHT CAVALRY. The shako plate of the 1st BLC is similar, but a shako of the 8th BLC has BHURTPORE instead. This plate differs from the 1st and the 8th in that the gilt Hanoverian crown is fixed to the top arm of the cross instead of being separate.
