The Royal Artillery traces its history back to 1716, but it would not be until 1839 that the Regiment first used its famous field gun badge as part of a larger shako plate. By the end of the nineteenth century however the field gun badge had been firmly established as the symbol of the artilleryman. The design was to be produced in the form of millions of cap badges, with suitable changes to metal and crowns, until the present day and is still recognisably the same badge. Today we are looking at one of the most common varieties of this cap badge, that with the King’s crown used between 1902 and 1952:

The field gun is clearly visible in the centre, above and below is a scroll with the Regiment’s motto ‘Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt’, Latin for ‘Everywhere That Right and Glory Lead’. A slider is attached to the rear:

This is the most common version of the badge, worn by the regular troops throughout both World Wars. A number of variations exist for the militia and territorial forces where the wording on the scrolls has been changed to reflect these other branches of the artillery, however all these badges are far rarer than this example which was produced in the millions.