Material: White metal
Size: 35mm × 65mm
Description: Highland bagpipes crossed with flowing plaid ribbons, representing the Scottish regimental piping tradition.
Reverse: Plain back with long brass securing pin for attachment to uniform sleeve or dress
Circa: 20th Century
Notes:
It is worn on the uniform sleeve by qualified bagpipers and Pipe Majors across various military branches, including the British Army, Commonwealth forces, and cadet organizations.
In the Highlands, clans originally used cow horns to signal troops. By the 15th and 16th centuries, bagpipes replaced horns because their piercing, high-pitched sound could carry over immense distances, cutting through the roar of wind, rain, and chaotic battle.
The psychological power of the bagpipe was so potent that after the Battle of Culloden (1746), British courts legally classified the bagpipe as an instrument of war (a weapon). Carrying them was treated as treason, the same as carrying a sword or musket.
In the trenches of WWI, pipers were easily targeted by enemy forces as they walked entirely upright without weapons to inspire the troops. Thousands of pipers were killed, leading the British War Office to ban piping on the front lines, though some pipers famously disobeyed this order during major operations like the D-Day landings in WWII.