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Formed on 28th March 2006, it was founded on the fighting heritage of historic Scottish Infantry Regiments representing over 390 years’ continuous service to the crown. Our motto is 'Nemo Me Impune Lacessit' (No one provokes me with impunity) – shared with the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry.
The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) is the senior line infantry regiment of the British Army.
Our history
The Royal Regiment of Scotland was initially made up of six regular and two Army reserve battalions on amalgamation of six proud historical Scottish Infantry Regiments. In August 2006 two of the regular battalions were merged and in 2012 one of the regular battalions was reduced to a company strength with sole responsibility for Scotland’s State Ceremonial and Public Duties. In December 2021 our 1st Battalion was selected to become the 1st Battalion of the new Ranger Regiment. We continue to provide SCOTS soldiers and officers to support its specialist role in the Army Special Operations Brigade.
Today the Regiment is made up of three regular battalions, one regular incremental company and two Army reserve battalions. The Regimental Headquarters is located in Edinburgh Castle, and SCOTS regular and reserve battalions are based across Scotland and Northern England. The Regiment is structured, equipped and trained for operations in the 21st Century.
It draws particular strength and extraordinary cohesion from the uniquely glorious history of its antecedent Regiments. The Regiment is one of the key custodians of Scottish martial history and remains fiercely proud of its heritage; each Battalion carries forward the history, traditions and fighting spirit of its forebears with uncompromising pride, courage and passion. Scotland has a tradition of producing courageous, resilient, tenacious and tough infantry soldiers, and their reputation throughout the Army and within the community continues to be second to none.
Our Mascot
The tradition of a black Shetland pony as mascot for the Regiment originated from our antecedent regiment, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. It dates to 1929 when Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, presented the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders with a black Shetland gelding. The name 'Cruachan' comes from Ben Cruachan, an iconic mountain in Argyll and Bute and is also the battle cry of Clan Campbell. The original Cruachan continued to serve as the mascot until his retirement in the late 1930s.
Cruachan II, another black Shetland gelding, was presented to the Battalion in 1952 and took over the role as the Regiment’s Mascot. On the units return from the Korean War and the Far East, tens of thousands lined Princes Street in Edinburgh to watch the parade - with the little pony right at the front of the procession. Slightly taller than his predecessor, Cruachan II was known to enjoy several beers and famously bit through Queen Elizabeth’s glove during a parade. He saw service in several places such as Germany and Cyprus before retiring in1979. There then followed a period when the custom of the regimental mascot fell into abeyance, and it wasn’t until1995 that Cruachan II was eventually replaced.
Cruachan III, the last regimental mascot of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders took up the role in October 1995 when he was six years old. Cruachan III was purchased by the officers and soldiers of the regiment, and he was beautiful black Shetland pony stallion, standing just over 9 hands high; his father was Harviestown Phyllapine, a Reserve Champion at the Royal Highland Show. His first public appearance as the Regimental Mascot was fittingly at the 1stBattalion Drumhead Service held on the 25 October 1995 to commemorate Balaklava Day. Cruachan served with the battalion across the UK including several operational tours of duty to the Balkans, Iraq, and Northern Ireland. Cruachan III even gained the distinction of being promoted to Lance Corporal in 2001.In 2006, on the formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Cruachan remained on as mascot to the Argyll’s, who were now the 5th Battalion of the new regiment, before being formally adopted in 2009 as mascot of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. On 2 July 2011, Her Majesty the Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh presented new colours to the Regiment in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh and it was Cruachan who marched in front of the six battalions on this historic day. Cruachan III retired from service age 23 years on the last night of the 2012 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, having led the guard of honour at the show’s finale.
The British Horse Society named Cruachan III as its equine personality of the year in 2016 and he received an award for his charity work from the veterans’ organisation Erskine in 2017. Erskine named him as one of its 100 heroes, to celebrate the organisation’s centenary — the only animal to receive this accolade. Cruachan III enjoyed his retirement and became a companion to the new regimental mascot until he sadly passed in 2018.
Cruachan IV was gifted to the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2012 as a four-year-old, coming from the Clothie Stud in Dyce. Quickly nicknamed ‘Four’, he was presented to Her Majesty the Queen for approval before he began his training at Redford Barracks, and he undertook his first official engagement in 2013.
Cruachan IV’s new companion is ‘Nightcap’ and when not undertaking public engagements in his role as mascot, Cruachan IV spends most of his time with ‘Nightcap’ in stables at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh where both are cared for by the Regiment’s Pony Major. When weather permits, both horses can often be seen at Portobello beach where they enjoy the soft sand and sea water.
Cruachan IV has been notionally promoted to the rank of Corporal and this is more an honorific distinction in recognition of his service to the Regiment since 2012. He also is entitled to wear the operational medals awarded to the Regiment during his tenure as mascot. Cruachan IV can often be seen at the head of many of the Regiment’s ceremonial events and he is a regular visitor to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Royal Guard at Balmoral. He continues to enjoy being the centre of attention drawing large crowds wherever he appears.
Uniform heritage
Cap Badge
The cap badge is bespoke to the Regiment and was approved by the Lord Lyon King of Arms with the matriculation authority being issued on the 26 September 2005. The heraldic description of the cap badge includes a saltire Argent surmounted of a loin rampant ensigned in chief by a representation of the Crown of Scotland Or and in base on an Escrol Argent the Motto “NEMO IMPUNE LACESSIT”:
Saltire
A diagonal cross taken from the national Arms of Scotland, being a silver saltire on a blue background. The saltire is traditionally said to be the shape upon which St Andrew, the Patron Saint of Scotland, was crucified, and the colours are reputed to have been taken from the apparition of the cross shining in the sky to encourage the king of the Picts in his advanced battle with Athelstane, the king of the Saxons, before the 7th century. Athelstaneford in East Lothian is the site of this presumed site of this battle. The saltire has formed part of the national Arms of Scotland from a very early period and is recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland in 1672 as the national badge.
The Crown of Scotland
The Crown of Scotland is a physical object housed in Edinburgh Castle and the crown on the cap badge is a representation of the actual Scottish Crown.
The Lion Rampant
A lion rampant is found throughout heraldry in Europe and particularly is found in the Arms of a many of the European Sovereigns both past and present. The lion rampant has appeared in the Royal Arms of Scotland since at least the early 13thcentury. There is a misconception that in some way the lion rampant is uniquely Scottish, but this is not the case.
Motto
The motto ‘Nemo Me Impune Lacessit’ is inextricably linked to the Order of the Thistle and has been designated by the Statutes of the Order to be the motto of that Order since at least the late 17th century. The older Royal motto of Scotland is ‘In Defens’, and this appears on the Royal Arms from an earlier period. However, the motto of the Order of the Thistle has long been associated with the Royal Arms. The translation of the motto is‘ No one invokes me with impunity’.
Tartan
The Regiment in kilt and trews wears the Government military pattern 1A tartan which was inherited from The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders (A and SH). Tartan was first worn in the British Army when the Highland regiments were raised. The normal uniform tartan was the Government (or universal) pattern, but as the Highland regiments proliferated, they sought to encourage their individual identities by introducing differences into the Government tartan. The A & SH adopted the Sutherland tartan from the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot who merged with the 91st (Princess Louise’s Argyllshire) Highlanders in 1881 under the Childers reforms. The Sutherland tartan then formed the basis of Government pattern 1A tartan. The Regiment has also inherited several other tartans which are worn in ceremonial dress by the Regiment’s Pipes &Drums bands.
The Black Hackle
The black hackle can claim its heritage from the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) uniform which goes back to at least the pre-World War 1 era when the hackle appears on solar helmets. Black plumes were worn on the 1881 rifles shakos, and it’s said that this heritage can go back as far as Marlborough’s time in the early 1700’s but at that time black hackles were widely worn and not just by the 26th Regiment of Foot. On formation of the Regiment in 2006, the 1st Battalion, The Royal Scots Borderers (1 SCOTS) were granted authority to wear the black hackle. When 1 SCOTS became 1 RANGER in November 2021, the black hackle was adopted as the Regimental hackle and is now worn by all ranks when not serving at Regimental Duty.
SCOTS REGULAR AND RESERVE LINEAGE
REGIMENTAL COLOURS
The Battalions of The Royal Regiment of Scotland carry identical Queen’s and Regimental Colours, differentiated only by a roman numeral battalion identifier, borne in the centre of the King’s Colour and on the first corner of the Regimental Colour. These Colours were presented by the late HM The Queen to six of the battalions at Holyrood Park, Edinburgh in 2011.The late HRH The Duke of Edinburgh presented Colours to the 4th Battalion later in the year, as at the time they were deployed on operations in Afghanistan. The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland were redesignated to 1 RANGER as part of the new Ranger Regiment concept in December 2021, and the Colours have remained with the new battalion for safe keeping. In time the Ranger Regiment will be presented their own colours, and The Royal Regiment of Scotland will then ceremoniously lay-up the old colours in their museum or in the Regimental Kirk.
The 2nd Battalion carries an honorary third Colour presented by the Governor General of British India, Lord Mornington - East India Company, in recognition of 74th(Highland) Regiment of Foot bravery during the Battle of Assaye in 1803 – this Honorary Colour is not consecrated and is paraded alongside the Regimental Colours on Assaye Day.
Colours are incredibly important to any Army unit as they represent the spirit of the regiment. As armies became trained and adopted set formations, each regiment's ability to keep its formation was potentially critical to its success. In the chaos of battle, not least due to the amount of smoke, dust and noise on a battlefield, soldiers needed to be able to determine where their regiment was. Since it was formalised in1751, each battalion of Line Infantry regiments of the British Army carry two colours - collectively called a stand. These are large flags mounted on a pike. They bear the battle honours and badges granted to the Regiment in commemoration of the gallant deeds performed by its members from the time it was raised and as such have major significance for each and every soldier in that Regiment. They record the proud and costly history of each Regiment and are treated with reverence which included being guarded and escorted always.
Both the King’s Colour and Regimental Colour are emblazed with Battle Honours with the Regimental Colour also showing five Honorary Distinctions. A Battle Honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"),uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. The Honorary Distinctions were generally awarded to mark a particular campaign, such as the Sphinx for the Egypt campaign against Napoleon in 1804.
The Royal Regiment of Scotland has amassed 339 Battle Honours. It is just not possible to emblazon all of these Battle Honours on the Colours and prior to the Colours being awarded to the Regiment,a Regimental committee selected the most appropriate Battle Honours to be borne by the Colours with these being conferred by Royal Authority and agreed by the Inspector of Regimental Colours. It is important to clarify that no Battle Honours have been 'lost'; all of them appear in the Army List, but only a limited number can be carried on the Colours due to the physical limitations. There is no order of precedence for Battle Honours, they are listed in chronological order, either in a single list, or in multiple even numbers of columns, reading left to right, and top to bottom.
The King's Colour is based on the national flag with the Regiment's insignia placed in the centre. Only Battle Honours from the Great War and the Second World War are permitted to be emblazoned on the Queen’s Colour and the Regiment has 43 such awards borne on the Colours.
Regimental Colours vary in design across the Infantry; for The Royal Regiment of Scotland,as a Royal Regiment, the background is dark blue, with the Regiment’s name and cap badge being in the centre and includes the Regiment’s motto: Nemo me Impune Lacessit (No one assails me with impunity). The crown on the cap badge is the Scottish Crown and these items are surrounded by the Universal Wreath. There are 44 Battle Honours on the Regimental Colours; all pre the Great War and post the Second World War, the oldest of which was awarded to The Royal Regiment of Foot(The Royal Scots) at the Battle of Tangier in 1680 and the most recent being Iraq 2003 which was awarded to a number of our antecedents.
The Regiment also has 5 Honorary Distinctions on the Regimental Colours: 1. Centrally below the Tie on the Universal Wreath is‘EGYPT’ and the Sphinx. 2. First Corner, The White Horse with the Motto ‘ NEC ASPERA TERRENT’. 3. Second Corner, The Castle and Key Superscribed ‘GIBRALTAR, 1780-83 with the Motto ‘MONTIS INSIGNIA CALPE’ 4. Third Corner, ‘INDIA’ and Tiger. 5. Fourth Corner,an Elephant superscribed ‘ASSAYE’
Even today, in most modern armies Standing Orders call for the Colours to be intentionally destroyed if they are ever in danger of being captured by the enemy.
King's Colour
Regimental Colour
