Officer’s Waistbelt Clasp 1881

The silver and gilt clasp was used for the gold dress belt and the undress white leather waist belt. The title THE YORKSHIRE REGIMENT dates this clasp from 1881. The device in the middle is that of Alexandra Princess of Wales who gave her name to the regiment in 1875. Waistbelt clasps of this type were worn by officers from 1855 when the device in the middle was a crown over the numeral 19. It is not known if the design changed in 1875 when the cypher, Dannebrog cross and coronet were adopted as the regimental badge. This photo is taken from the cover of Lelia Ryan’s MHS booklet on Officers’ Waist Belt Clasps (1994). The cross is silver while the A and crown are gilt. Another example has the whole device in silver, on a gilt background, and the inscribed outer circle also all silver. In 1902 the style of Alexandra’s cypher was changed to a more pointed A.

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