Material: White metal
Size: 37 mm (width) × 44 mm (height)
Description: This striking insignia served as the official regimental cap badge for the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles, an elite volunteer regiment originally raised in the Cape Colony. The intricate design centers on the radiant Star of the Order of the Thistle. It features a detailed heraldic thistle nestled within a circular garter band inscribed with the full unit name. The entire multi-tiered assembly is elegantly surmounted by a coronet at the apex. Struck in standard white metal (wm) for other ranks, the crisp casting features an unpolished silver sheen with no maker marks on the reverse. It retains its two original wire loop lugs designed to safely pin the piece onto a traditional glengarry or field cap.
Circa: 1902-1922
Notes:
Cap badge of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteer Rifles (DEOVR), a South African regiment originally raised in Cape Town in 1855. The regiment saw extensive service during both World Wars as part of the Union Defence Force and later the South African Army. This early WWI badge retains the traditional thistle motif and crown typical of the unit’s Scottish heritage.
While the design employs Scottish heraldry like the Thistle Cross, this unit was actually a prestigious Cape Town-based infantry unit in South Africa. Established in 1855, it earned its famous royal title after providing a personal guard for Prince Alfred during his mid-nineteenth-century tour of the colony.