Description
Physical description
Bi-metal badge comprising a laurel wreath enclosing the Royal Tiger above which is the Union Rose (representing the roses of York and Lancaster) surmounted by a Royal Ducal coronet. On the lower half of the wreath a title scroll marked 'YORK AND LANCASTER'. Tiger, wreath, title scroll and centre of rose in brass, coronet and outer petals of the Rose in white metal. Pair of lugs to reverse.
History note
Badge of pattern worn 1898 to 1968.
The senior predecessor Regiment was raised in 1756 as the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Regiment of Foot (later the East Suffolks), its Colonel being Major General Robert Armiger. In 1758 this unit became a Regiment in its own right as the 65th Regiment of Foot. In 1782 it was re-designated 65th (The Second Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot, at which time it had a badge that included the Royal Tiger device, granted for its service in India. The badge was surmounted by what appears to be a Prussian Eagle crown, although the derivation of this is not clear.
The junior predecessor was raised in 1794 as the 84th Regiment of Foot, (Colonel George Bernard), re-designated in 1809 as the 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot. At this time it had a Tudor rose device (the "Union" rose, the white and red roses of York and Lancaster) and a Royal ducal coronet, deriving from the Duchy of Lancaster.
In the Cardwell/Childers reforms of 1881 the 65th and 84th Regiments were merged to form The York and Lancaster Regiment. Not only did the junior Regiment supply the new Regiment's name but also the principal, indeed at that time the only, badge device, the Tudor rose. In 1898, with the introduction of new badges, the Regimental name and the rose were retained, with a further two devices from the 84th, the Royal Ducal coronet and the laurel wreath. The supposedly senior 65th supplied just the Royal Tiger device from its pre-1881 badge, although it should be noted that the 84th had also been granted the Tiger badge, not worn hitherto on its headdress badges, for its service in India from 1796 to 1816. The combination of the rose and the Tiger attracted the irreverent soldiers' soubriquet of the "cat and cabbage", as for the Hampshires.
In 1958 the Regiment became part of the Yorkshire Brigade and were supposed to adopt the Brigade badge. In December 1968 the Regiment was disbanded, having declined the opportunity to amalgamate.
