Material: White metal
Dimensions: 50mm (W) × 70mm (H)
Description: This historic military artifact is an authentic British Army cap badge issued for members serving within the renowned King's Own Scottish Borderers regiment. Struck in heavy die-stamped white metal, the highly complex design centers on Edinburgh Castle flying flags from its three turrets, laid squarely over the saltire Cross of St. Andrew. This central motif is encircled by a buckled garter ribbon bearing the title "KINGS OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS," flanked on the outer perimeter by a dense, textured wreath of Scottish thistles. Three distinct scroll ribbons weave through the architecture: the top banner displays the Latin motto "IN VERITATE RELIGIONIS CONFIDO" (In the truth of religion I trust), the lower scroll spells "NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA" (Unless the Lord builds the house, the labor is in vain), and the lowermost ribbon anchors the composition with "RUSTRA DOMINUS". The entire design is surmounted by a highly detailed Tudor Crown (King's Crown) supporting a standing royal lion statant guardant.
Reverse: Plain with copper lugs for attachment; One replaced.
Circa: 1902–1952
Notes:
The lineage of this iconic regiment dates back to March 19, 1689, when it was hastily raised by David Leslie, the 3rd Earl of Leven. Formed as a direct crisis measure to defend Edinburgh against the advancing Jacobite forces, the regiment achieved a legendary feat by recruiting a full battalion of 800 men in just two hours "by beat of drum" along the city's historic Royal Mile. Initially allocated as the 25th Regiment of Foot within the British line infantry order of precedence in 1751, its primary recruitment pipeline shifted completely to the Scottish Borders region in 1805. After 317 years of unbroken, distinguished service under the British Crown, the regiment was formally integrated into the Royal Regiment of Scotland on August 1, 2006, serving today as part of the Royal Scots Borderers.
During the brutal World War I operations at Gallipoli in 1915, Piper Daniel Laidlaw of the 7th Battalion climbed out of the trenches into a cloud of poison gas and heavy machine-gun fire. Playing his bagpipes to rally his faltering comrades, his exceptional bravery earned him the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valor in the British Commonwealth.