Royal Regiment of Scotland

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Royal Regiment of Scotland
Cap Badge of The Royal Regiment of Scotland
Active	28 March 2006 -
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Line Infantry
Role	1st Battalion - Light Role 2nd Battalion - Light Role 3rd Battalion - Light Role 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	RHQ - Edinburgh 1st Battalion - Edinburgh 2nd Battalion - Penicuik 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 Slow - The Garb of Auld Gaul
Commanders
Colonel in Chief	HM The Queen
Colonel of the Regiment	Major General W.E.B. 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 and two territorial battalions, each formerly an individual regiment (with the exception of the first battalion, which is an amalgamation of two regiments). However, each battalion maintains its former regimental pipes and drums to carry on the traditions of their antecedent regiments.

1 History
2 Organisation
3 Alliances
4 Order of Precedence
5 See also
6 External links

[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 the defence white paper, Delivering Security in a Changing World, several months earlier.

The regiment consists of a total of seven 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 regiments of the Scottish Division. Along with The Rifles, it is currently the largest infantry regiment in the British Army. 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 prominently retained with the new numbered battalion designations as subtitles. There is however a common regimental cap badge, tartan, stable belt and Glengarry headdress but distinctively coloured hackles are also worn by each separate battalion on the Tam o' Shanter headdress in order to maintain their individual identity and the pipes and drums of each battalion continue to wear the historic cap badges and tartans of their former regiments. The Royal Regiment of Scotland also maintains a single military band, which was formed through the amalgamation of the Highland band and Lowland band of the Scottish Division. In addition, the bands of both 51st (Scottish) Brigade and 52nd Infantry Brigade are administered by the regiment's two Territorial battalions.

The process of creating large, multi-battalion regiments through amalgamation of the traditional county regiments that were formalised in the Childers Reforms of 1881 has continued to affect most of the British Army Infantry since the 1957 Defence White Paper outlined the first mergers. The creation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland has encountered considerable opposition amongst both former soldiers and 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 also primarily a kilted one and there are concerns that the much older Lowland units, which wore trews, will be effectively absorbed into a Highland ethos. However, the Ministry of Defence's case that change was necessary in order to enhance operational efficiency, improve conditions of service and to resolve chronic recruiting and retention problems amongst some Scottish regiments appears to have been accepted by the majority of serving personnel and was recommended by the then Chief of the General Staff, Sir Mike Jackson. 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 deployed at Camp Dogwood in a relatively dangerous region of Iraq. Hoon was accused by the SNP of "stabbing the soldiers in the back" and being motivated purely by political concerns, with little regard to the effect on morale.

In August 2005, the new regimental cap badge was unveiled - 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) - which is the national motto of Scotland, and was also the motto of four of the then-existing Scottish regiments. The former regimental motto of the Highlanders, 'Cuidich 'n Righ' (Aid the King), is also incorporated in some items of ceremonial uniform. The Regimental Headquarters is located at Edinburgh Castle.

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 were 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.

Regular battalions
- The Royal Scots Borderers¹, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
Territorial battalions
- 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

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 regular battalion will be given a specific operational role:

The Royal Scots Borderers - Light Role (19 Light Brigade)
The Royal Highland Fusiliers - Light Role (52nd Infantry Brigade)
The Black Watch - Light Role (19 Light Brigade)
The Highlanders - Armoured infantry (7th Armoured Brigade)
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - Air Assault/Light Role (16th Air Assault Brigade)

The three light role battalions will rotate periodically, with either the Royal Scots Borderers or Royal Highland Fusiliers having responsibility for public duties in Edinburgh depending upon which one is under the command of 52nd Infantry Brigade at the time. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders will rotate the air assault role with two other line infantry battalions; when it is not in this role, it will serve as a light role battalion in 52 Infantry Brigade. The Highlanders 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:

1st Battalion - HRH The Princess Royal²
2nd Battalion - HRH The Duke of York
3rd Battalion - HRH The Prince of Wales
4th Battalion - HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
5th Battalion - HM The Queen
6th Battalion - HRH The Princess Royal
7th Battalion - HRH The Prince of Wales

Note 2: The King's Own Scottish Borderers, now amalgamated with the Royal Scots to form the 1st Battalion, have not had a Colonel-in-Chief since the death of Princess Alice in 2004.

[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.