Cap Badges and Insignia in US and UK and Commonwealth countries.

January 9, 2026

In the United States, Cap Badges denote the Service, being, Army, Navy and USMC. There was no Air Force as a separate entity until 1947. During World War Two the Air Force was part of the Army and was called the US Army Air Force or USAAF. Some countries such as Canada and Israel have integrated Armed Forces with no separate divisions for the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force. In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, the tradition is to have the Branch of Service Insignia on the cap, for example, Engineers, Royal Tank Regiment etc. The Royal Army Medical Corps is not an independent regiment, and its personnel are assigned to their respective branch of service. They generally do not carry firearms, and they are not engaged in active military roles. Both in the US and the UK, Officers and often Warrant Officers have different Insignia and caps from "Enlisted Men" or "Other Ranks". In the US, the Branch of Service insignia such as Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Quartermaster, Signals, etc,, are worn on the lower lapel on both sides. The upper lapel has the US insignia on it. In the UK and Commonwealth, Regimental Badges or "Collar Dogs" are worn on the upper lapel. To add to confusion, US "Garrison" or "Side-Caps" have the rank rather than Service whereas the opposite applies in the UK and Commonwealth. Below are the Branch of Service Cap Insignia of the::

US Navy (USN), US Coast Guard USCG), US Marines Corps (USMC), US Army (Enlisted), US Army (Officer) (same Insignia for WW2 USAAF) and the US Air Force (USAF) post-1947.

Here are some Regimental Insignia / Cap Badges from the WW2 British Armed Forces. Again, Officers, Warrant Officers and Other ranks, wore different Cap Insignia. Staff Officers in the British Army wear a distinctive bullion cap insignia against a Red Band, which was not a regimental identifier (see above).

Above: Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) on left and Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) on right. The King's Regiment, Left to right: 8th Irish, The Kings Regiment,, The King's (Liverpool) and The King's (Manchester)