Ordnance Insignia of the British Army

Regimental Buttons
Designs & Sizes

Regimental buttons have been worn as long as the military uniform itself. But it was not until 1767 that regulations on their use were introduced. Most buttons worn by the support corps were made in Brass, with Fired Gilt or Bronze buttons being worn by officers and senior warrant officers.

Although regimental pattern buttons continued for Officers, Other Ranks wore 'General Service' buttons from 1871 until after the First World War (the same pattern throughout the Army).  The British Army is full of exceptions, and some regiments permitted NCOs to wear regimental buttons during this period.

Most military buttons come in a range of sizes, The four main size ranges are:

Large 35 to 40 lines (22 to 25mm)
Medium 30 to 34 lines (19 to 22mm) It was the custom at one time to have smaller 'Medium' sized Buttons on the epaulets.
Small 24 to 29 lines (15 to 18mm) Mounted Buttons are also of this size.
Gorget 20 to 23 lines (13 to 14mm) More recently Gorget Buttons have also been of the Small Size.

In British military dress regulations, the diameter of buttons is often measured in 'Lines' or 'Lignes' (abbreviated to 'L').
40L = 1 inch = appx 25.4 millimetres

Large buttons are the second most common size found, because they are only worn on the Greatcoat and Officers Service Dress jacket. The greatcoat is no longer on general-issue (now only used for 'Public Duties). Today’s Officers Service Dress jackets have 4 large buttons.

Medium buttons are the most common size found, as most uniforms used them. The Officers Service Dress jacket also uses them on the pockets and epaulets.

Small buttons are fairly scarce. There are only 2 small-sized buttons on a peaked cap - used to secure the chin-strap, or front of the Side Cap flap.

Mounted buttons are scarce, They were used on Mess Dress waistcoats and Officers Mess Dress Rank epaulets. They are made from a Silver Corps or regimental device mounted on a Brass domed button. They are normally only found in ‘Small’ sizes

Gorget buttons are also scarce. And are only used on the coloured patches on Staff & General Officers uniforms. Conductors AOC also wore Dark Blue Gorget Patches edged in Red on the overseas Khaki Drill uniform, The buttons being the then Currant AOD Officers pattern.

Screw Post buttons are also fairly scarce, This Medium sized button is used to secure the Officers rank board in No1 Dress.  (This has a screw instead of a loop) . An officer would only purchase one pair in his service life, unless their was a change of design. Many 'Kings Crown' (HR523) buttons saw use into the 1960's!

Other Ranks wore 'General Service' buttons from 1871 until after the First World War (the same pattern throughout the Army). The British Army is full of exceptions, and some NCOs were permitted to wear regimental buttons during this period. Regimental pattern buttons continued to be worn by all Officers and Warrant Officers. These buttons however were mainly privately manufactured to a higher standard of finish.

After the First World War, Service Dress became the main uniform of the British soldier. Most corps and regiments adopted distinctive buttons. These were worn on the Service Dress Jacket primarily, though they were also worn on Greatcoats and Service hats as well.

More recently in about 1950 anodised aluminium buttons were introduced for general service wear.

Note 1 - This button was illustrated in the May 2003 issue of ‘The Bulletin’ by the Military Historical Society.
Note 2 - HR 549 General Service Button was also worn on the Greatcoat in GM & Plastic during W.W.II

Types of fittings


Left - Screw Post button with Fixing Post for Shoulder Boards. (Usually found on Medium Buttons only)
Centre Right - Standard Fixed Loop (Most standard type found)
Right - Floating Loop (Designed so that double breasted buttons lay flat)
Also illustrated are the wide range of ‘Manufacturers Back Marks’ to be found on buttons.

Types of Button Finish:

There are a number of different finishes to buttons, dependant on use:

Button Size Comparison Chart

From Left to Right
Large, Gilt HR520 Ordnance Stores Department 1875 - 1896
Medium Large, Gilt HR521KC Army Ordnance Department 1902 - 1918
Medium, Gliding-Metal HR522 Royal Army Ordnance Corps 1918 - 1949
Small, Blackened HR523KC 1949 - 1953
Small, Silver-Mounted HR523QC 1953 - 1993

Types of Finishes on British Ordnance Regimental Buttons
Known finishes on Ordnance Buttons.

Known Types :
A - Anodised B - Brass D - Blackened G - Gilt
W -White Metal M - Mounted S - Silver Mounted

o - Probable  # - Not Likely  ? - Not Known

M Comerford - December 2003 - HTML Revision 2