You are viewing a WW2 piece of British military history. This is a Royal East Kent Regiment, (The Buffs) Military Regiment Cap Badge, formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury.

The origins of this regiment came from the Dutch fight for independence from Spain from 1568-1648 or the "Eighty Years' War" which was supported by Protestants right across Europe; the regiment was founded in 1572 by Mr Thomas Morgan's Company of Foot, a group of 300 volunteers from the London Trained Bands. The regiment provided distinguished service over almost four hundred years accumulating one hundred and sixteen battle honours, which date this as one of the oldest regiments in the British Army, being third in order of precedence (ranked as the 3rd Regiment of the line).

The badges of each regiment are their most basic identifying emblem and much thought and emotion are vested in these badges by the members of the regiments. This badge design features a gilded metal badge of a dragon passant guardant with the right front foot raised. The dragon is depicted in a side profile with the tail raised. This pattern was worn between 1935-1958. There are two stories regarding the origin of the dragon motif. One is said, like its nickname the Buffs, to date back to its earliest days in Holland and to refer to a trophy captured there from the Spanish. The other is that it derives from the Royal Arms of Queen Elizabeth I and was granted to the regiment by Queen Anne in 1707. The regiment Motto is "Veteri Frondescit Honore" (Latin): translated to "Its Ancient Honour Flourishes" or "Its Ancient Honour is Ever-Green"

In 1881, under the Childers Reforms, it was known as The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and later, on 3 June 1935, was renamed The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). In 1961, it was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment to form the Queen's Own Buffs,

CONDITION: This item is a WW2 mid-30s to 1940s, used, and in very good condition for its age and use, the front of the badge is good showing nice detail with very little wear, and it has a naturally aged patina on the brass, the brass hat slide on the back is firmly fixed. # Please note: The Photographs form part of the description; Super-sized photos can show the finer details and condition.

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WEIGHT & MEASUREMENTS: The item is measured in both centimetres and inches that are rounded to the nearest quarter inch. WEIGHT: 13 gm. approximately unpacked.

• HEIGHT:  5.2 cm / 2"
• WIDTH: 4.2 cm / 1½"
• DEPTH: .05 cm

All measurements are approximate only.