The Museum was officially opened on 29 May 2014 and is currently co-located with The Royal Scots Museum in historic Edinburgh Castle. This means that the story of the oldest regiment in the British Army, The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), sits alongside the story of the youngest Scottish regiment, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, under one roof. The Museum exists to preserve, and make accessible, the story of The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
In 2017 our collection, as part of the Scottish Regimental Museums' Collection was recognised as Nationally Significant to Scotland.
The display offers a small selection of objects from our collection that reflect the activities of the Regiment since its formation in 2006. It is designed to showcase the modern Scottish soldier who are the proud successors to Scotland’s world famous infantry regiments. The Museum is a registered charity (No. SC044665) and with no source of regular income relies heavily on the generosity of our visitors and extended regimental family. If you would like to support the Museum by making a donation please click the button below.
When the Regiment was initially formed in March 2006 it consisted of six regular battalions and 2 reserve battalions. The 1st Battalion’s formation was delayed until August as both The Royal Scots and King’s Own Scottish Borderers were deployed on operations when the Regiment formed on 28 March. The other battalions were formed from the remaining regiments of the Scottish Division. These were The Royal Highland Fusiliers, The Black Watch, The Highlanders, The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, The 52nd Lowland Regiment and The 51st Highland Regiment respectively. Click here to see the SCOTS lineage.
Of all of the newly formed regiments with the British Army, The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the only one where former regimental titles have been prominently retained with the new numbered battalion designations used as abbreviations. Each soldier in the Regiment wears the same cap badge, tactical recognition flash, stable belt, tartan and glengarry headdress but distinctively coloured hackles are worn on the Tam o’ Shanter headdress to indicate the battalion they belong to. Furthermore, the Pipes & Drums of each battalion continue to wear the ceremonial dress of their antecedent regiments.
In 2012, as part of the Army 2020 reform package, it was announced that the 5th Battalion, whilst not losing its name and history as The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, would be reduced to the status of an independent rifle company, similar to the three companies in the Guards Division, and would become a permanent public duties unit based in Scotland. This conversion from a full sized battalion to Balaklava Company took place in June 2013.
On 28 March 2016 The Royal Regiment of Scotland celebrated its 10 year anniversary. Its first decade has seen a high level of operational activity for the Regiment so that in addition to the impressive heritage of its antecedent regiments, it can now look with pride to its own recent history and accomplishments.