Regiments

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royal scotish dressed up on a scotish hillside

The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Please find below a brief description about ‘The Royal Regiment of Scotland’. If you would like further information then please click on the following link: www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/scots

The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the senior and only Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, each formerly an individual regiment (with the exception of the first battalion, which is a merger of two regiments). However, each battalion maintains its former regimental Pipes and Drums to carry on the traditions of their antecedent regiments.

map of scotland showing where different regiments draw their recruits from

All battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland adopted the name of their former individual regiments as a sub title in order to maintain their traditional tribal foot print.

Regular battalions

The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

Territorial battalions

52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland

The Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers merged on 1st August 2006 to form The Royal Scots Borderers.

Each regular battalion will be given a specific operational role:

The Royal Scots Borderers - Light Role (19 Light Brigade) - Dreghorn Barracks, Edinburgh
The Black Watch - Light Role (19 Light Brigade) - Fort George, Inverness
The Highlanders - Armoured infantry (7 Armoured Brigade) - St. Barbara Barracks, Fallingbostel, Germany
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - Air Assault (16 Air Assault Brigade) - Howe Barracks, Canterbury

Due to their relatively flexible nature, the three light role battalions will rotate periodically, with either the Royal Scots Borderers or Royal Highland Fusiliers having responsibility for public duties in Edinburgh. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders will rotate the air assault role with two other line infantry/rifles battalions in 16th Air Assault Brigade. As an armoured unit, The Highlanders will remain in its fixed location as part of 7th Armoured Brigade in Germany. The two Territorial battalions come under the command of 51st (Scottish) Brigade, the Regional Brigade administering the TA in Scotland.

The regiment's Colonel-in-Chief is HM The Queen. The colonels-in-chief of the constituent regiments making up the new regiment have become the Royal Colonels of their representative battalions:

1st Battalion - HRH The Princess Royal2
2nd Battalion - HRH The Duke of York
3rd Battalion - HRH The Duke of Rothesay3
4th Battalion - HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
5th Battalion - HM The Queen
6th Battalion - HRH The Princess Royal
7th Battalion - HRH The Duke of Rothesay

^3 Duke of Rothesay is the title assumed by the Prince of Wales while in Scotland.

All Officers and Soldiers in The Royal Regiment of Scotland voluntarily donate a days pay each year to the Regimental Association. This provides the benevolence and welfare for serving and old soldiers who fall on hard times. The pocket diary is issued to individuals as a reward for their annual subscription. The remaining diaries are then sold to the public in order to raise extra funds for benevolence and welfare.