British Army order of precedence 3119136 223517433 2008-07-04T12:15:45Z Mrg3105 2654809 there were no heavy cavalry in the British Army, cavalry being "battle" cavalry with the light cavalry and light dragoons being the other types of cavalry For the purposes of parading, the regular army of the [[British Army]] is listed according to an '''order of precedence'''. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being highest. Under ordinary circumstances, the [[Household Cavalry]] parades at the extreme right of the line. However, when on parade with its guns, it is the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] (usually in the form of the [[King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery|King's Troop]]) that goes to the right. Militia and Territorial Army Units take precedence after Regular units otherwise the [[Honourable Artillery Company]] and [[Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers]] would feature prominently being older than any Regular Regiments. === Usual Order of Precedence === The usual order of precedence is: *[[Household Cavalry]] *[[Royal Horse Artillery]] *[[Royal Armoured Corps]] *[[Royal Regiment of Artillery]] *[[Corps of Royal Engineers]] *[[Royal Corps of Signals]] *[[British Army Infantry|Infantry]] **[[Foot Guards]] **[[Line Infantry]] **[[The Rifles|Rifles]] *[[Army Air Corps (United Kingdom)|Army Air Corps]] *Services **[[Royal Army Chaplains Department]] **[[Royal Logistic Corps]] **[[Royal Army Medical Corps]] **[[Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers]] **[[Adjutant General's Corps]] **[[Royal Army Veterinary Corps]] **[[Small Arms School Corps]] **[[Royal Army Dental Corps]] **[[Intelligence Corps]] **[[Army Physical Training Corps]] **[[General Service Corps]] **[[Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps]] **[[Corps of Army Music]] **[[Royal Gibraltar Regiment]] ===Cavalry and Infantry Orders of Precedence=== Cavalry and infantry regiments of the British Army are listed in their own orders of precedence, which dates back to when regiments had numbers rather than names. The order comes from the start of the regiment's service under the Crown, up to 1881 and the "[[Cardwell Reforms]]", when the use of numbers was abolished in favour of linking with and using county names. The regiments of the [[Household Division]] are always listed first, as they are the most senior, followed by the line regiments. In today's army, which has many regiments formed through amalgamations of other regiments, the rank in the order of precedence is that of the more senior of the amalgamated units. It is for this reason that the '''Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment''', one of the youngest in the army, is ranked second in the line infantry order - it is the direct descendent of the '''2nd Regiment of Foot'''. ====Cavalry Order of Precedence==== {| border=1 align=center !Modern Regiment !Formation !Antecedent Regiments |- ! colspan=6 | Household Cavalry{{fn|1}} |- |[[Life Guards (Britain)|The Life Guards]]||[[1922]]||[[1st Regiment of Life Guards|1st Life Guards]], 2nd Life Guards |- |[[Blues and Royals|The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)]]||[[1969]]||[[Royal Horse Guards]], [[Royal Dragoons|1st Dragoons]] |- ! colspan=6 | Cavalry of the Line{{fn|2}} |- ! colspan=6 | Cavalry |- |[[1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards]]||[[1959]]||[[1st King's Dragoon Guards|1st Dragoon Guards]], [[2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)|2nd Dragoon Guards]] |- |[[Royal Scots Dragoon Guards|The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)]]||[[1971]]||[[3rd (The Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards|3rd Dragoon Guards]], [[The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)|6th Dragoon Guards]], [[Scots Greys|2nd Dragoons]] |- |[[The Royal Dragoon Guards]]||[[1992]]||[[4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards|4th Dragoon Guards]], [[5th Dragoon Guards]], [[7th Dragoon Guards]], [[6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons|6th Dragoons]] |- ! colspan=6 | Light Cavalry |- |[[The Queen's Royal Hussars|The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish)]]||[[1993]]||[[3rd (The King's Own) Hussars|3rd Hussars]], [[4th Queen's Own Hussars|4th Hussars]], [[7th Queen's Own Hussars|7th Hussars]], [[8th King's Royal Irish Hussars|8th Hussars]] |- |[[9th/12th Royal Lancers|9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's)]]||[[1960]]||[[9th Lancers]], [[12th Royal Lancers|12th Lancers]] |- |[[King's Royal Hussars|The King's Royal Hussars]]||[[1992]]||[[10th Hussars]], [[11th Hussars]], [[14th King's Hussars|14th Hussars]], [[20th Hussars]] |- |[[Light Dragoons|The Light Dragoons]]||[[1992]]||[[13th Light Dragoons|13th Hussars]], [[15th The King's Hussars|15th Hussars]], [[18th Hussars]], [[19th Hussars]] |- |[[Queen's Royal Lancers|The Queen's Royal Lancers]]{{fn|3}}||[[1993]]||[[16th The Queen's Lancers|16th Lancers]], [[17th Lancers]], [[5th Royal Irish Lancers|5th Lancers]], [[21st Lancers]] |- ! colspan=6 | Royal Tank Regiment{{fn|4}} |- |[[1st Royal Tank Regiment]]||[[1993]]||[[1st Royal Tank Regiment]], [[4th Royal Tank Regiment]], [[7th Royal Tank Regiment]] |- |[[2nd Royal Tank Regiment]]||[[1992]]||[[2nd Royal Tank Regiment]], [[3rd Royal Tank Regiment]], [[6th Royal Tank Regiment]] |} =====Cavalry - Notes===== {{fnb|1}} The 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards, were originally termed Horse Guards and given precedence over the Cavalry regiments of the Line. The 1st Royal Dragoons was a line regiment.<br> {{fnb|2}} In the sequence for Cavalry of the Line, Cavalry, consisting of [[Dragoon Guards]], come first in the order of precedence with their own numbering sequence. Light Cavalry, consisting of Dragoons, Hussars and Lancers, have their own (single) sequence, hence 1st Dragoons, 3rd Hussars, 5th Lancers, 6th Dragoons, 8th Hussars, 9th Lancers, etc.<br> {{fnb|3}} Although one of the antecedent regiments of the Queen's Royal Lancers was the 5th Lancers, this regiment was formed in the 1850s, resurrecting the number of an old regiment and thus ranked in precedence after the 17th Lancers.<br> {{fnb|4}} The two individual regiments that make up the Royal Tank Regiment are not included in the order of precedence separately; the RTR (which was formed during the [[World War I|First World War]]) takes final place in the cavalry/RAC order as a whole. ====Infantry Order of Precedence==== The infantry is ranked in the order of [[Foot Guards]], [[Line infantry|Line Infantry]]{{fn|5}}, Rifles: {| border=1 align=center |'''Modern Regiment'''||'''Formation'''||'''Antecedent Regiments''' |- ! colspan=6 | Foot Guards |- |[[Grenadier Guards]]||[[1665]]||[[John Russell's Regiment of Guards|King's Royal Regt of Guards]], [[Lord Wentworth's Regiment|Wentworth's Regt]] |- |[[Coldstream Guards]]||[[1650]]|| |- |[[Scots Guards]]||[[1661]]||Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment |- |[[Irish Guards]]||[[1900]] |- |[[Welsh Guards]]||[[1915]] |- ! colspan=6 | Line Infantry{{fn|6}} |- |[[Royal Regiment of Scotland|The Royal Regiment of Scotland]]||[[2006]]||[[Royal Scots|1st]], [[Royal Scots Fusiliers|21st]], [[King's Own Scottish Borderers|25th]], [[42nd Regiment of Foot|42nd]], [[71st Regiment of Foot|71st]], [[72nd Regiment of Foot|72nd]], [[73rd Regiment of Foot|73rd]], 74th, 75th, [[78th Regiment of Foot|78th]], [[Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders|79th]], [[91st Regiment of Foot|91st]], [[92nd Regiment of Foot|92nd]], [[93rd Regiment of Foot|93rd]] Regts of Foot |- |[[Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment|The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires)]]||[[1992]]||[[2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot|2nd]], [[3rd Regiment of Foot|3rd]], [[31st Regiment of Foot|31st]], [[35th Regiment of Foot|35th]], [[37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot|37th]], [[50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot|50th]], [[57th Regiment of Foot|57th]], [[67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot|67th]], [[70th Regiment of Foot|70th]], [[77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot|77th]], [[97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot|97th]], [[107th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Light Infantry)|107th]] Regts of Foot |- |[[Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border)|The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)]]||[[2006]]||[[2nd Tangier Regiment|4th]], [[8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot|8th]], [[30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot|30th]], [[34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot|34th]], [[40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot|40th]], [[47th Regiment of Foot|47th]], [[55th Regiment of Foot|55th]], 59th, [[63rd Regiment of Foot|63rd]], [[81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers)|81st]], [[82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)|82nd]], [[96th Regiment of Foot|96th]] Regts of Foot |- |[[The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers]]||[[1968]]||[[Royal Northumberland Fusiliers|5th]], [[The Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers|6th]], [[The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)|7th]], [[Lancashire Fusiliers|20th]] Regts of Foot |- |[[The Royal Anglian Regiment]]||[[1964]]||[[9th Regiment of Foot|9th]], [[10th Regiment of Foot|10th]], [[Suffolk Regiment|12th]], [[16th Regiment of Foot|16th]], [[Royal Leicestershire Regiment|17th]], [[44th Regiment of Foot|44th]], [[48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot|48th]], [[56th Regiment of Foot|56th]], 58th Regts of Foot |- |[[Royal Marines|The Royal Marines]]{{fn|7}}||[[1755]]||1st, 2nd, 3rd, [[4th Regiment of Marines (British Army)|4th]], 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th Regts of Marines (44th-53rd Foot) |- |[[Yorkshire Regiment|The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot)]]||[[2006]]||[[West Yorkshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales's Own)|14th]], [[15th Regiment of Foot|15th]], [[19th Regiment of Foot|19th]], [[33rd Regiment of Foot|33rd]], [[76th Regiment of Foot|76th]] Regts of Foot |- |[[Mercian Regiment|The Mercian Regiment]]||[[2007]]||[[Cheshire Regiment|22nd]], [[29th Regiment of Foot|29th]], [[36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot|36th]], [[38th Regiment of Foot|38th]], [[45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot|45th]], [[64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot|64th]], [[80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers)|80th]], [[95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot|95th]], 98th Regts of Foot |- |[[Royal Welsh|The Royal Welsh]]||[[2006]]||[[Royal Welch Fusiliers|23rd]], [[The South Wales Borderers|24th]], [[41st (Welsh) Regiment of Foot|41st]], [[69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot|69th]] Regts of Foot |- |[[The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment)]]||[[1992]]||[[Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers|27th]], [[83rd Regiment of Foot|83rd]], [[86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot|86th]], [[87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot|87th]], [[89th Regiment of Foot|89th]], [[108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry)|108th]] Regts of Foot, [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] |- |[[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|The Parachute Regiment]]||[[1942]]||[[British Commandos|Army Commandos]] |- ! colspan=6 | Rifles{{fn|8}} |- |[[Royal Gurkha Rifles|The Royal Gurkha Rifles]]||[[1994]]||[[2nd Gurkha Rifles|2nd]], [[6th Gurkha Rifles|6th]], [[7th Gurkha Rifles|7th]], [[10th Gurkha Rifles]] |- |[[The Rifles]]||[[2007]]||[[The Devonshire Regiment|11th]], [[13th Regiment of Foot|13th]], [[28th Regiment of Foot|28th]], [[32nd Regiment of Foot|32nd]], [[39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot|39th]], [[43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot|43rd]], [[46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot|46th]], 49th, 51st, 52nd, [[53rd Regiment of Foot|53rd]], [[54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot|54th]], [[King's Royal Rifle Corps|60th]], [[61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot|61st]], 62nd, [[66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot|66th]], [[Durham Light Infantry|68th]], 85th, [[99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot|99th]], [[105th Regiment of Foot (Madras Light Infantry)|105th]], [[106th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Light Infantry)|106th]] Regts of Foot, [[The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|The Rifle Brigade]] |- ! colspan=6 | Others |- |[[Special Air Service|The Special Air Service]]||[[1944]] |} =====Infantry - Notes===== {{fnb|5}} The infantry order of precedence has several missing numbers, due to infantry regiments being disbanded: *The [[Royal Irish Regiment (1684)|Royal Irish Regiment]] (disbanded 1922) - 18th Regt of Foot *The [[The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)|Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)]] (suspended animation 1968; disbanded 1987) - [[26th Regiment of Foot|26th]], 90th Regts of Foot *The [[York and Lancaster Regiment]] (suspended animation 1968; disbanded 1987) - [[65th Regiment of Foot|65th]], [[84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot|84th]] Regts of Foot *The [[Connaught Rangers]] (disbanded 1922) - [[88th Regiment of Foot|88th]], 94th Regts of Foot *The [[Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)]] (disbanded 1922) - [[100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot|100th]], [[109th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Infantry)|109th]] Regts of Foot *The [[Royal Munster Fusiliers]] (disbanded 1922) - [[101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers)|101st]], [[104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers)|104th]] Regts of Foot *The [[Royal Dublin Fusiliers]] (disbanded 1922) - [[102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)|102nd]], [[103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)|103rd]] Regts of Foot {{fnb|6}} Up to [[2006]], five line infantry regiments had never been amalgamated in their entire history. In 2006 and 2007, these were amalgamated into large regiments under the planned [[Delivering Security in a Changing World|reorganisation]] of the infantry: *The [[Royal Scots|Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment)]] - 1st Regt of Foot (now part of [[Royal Scots Borderers|1 SCOTS]]) *The [[Green Howards|Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)]] - 19th Regt of Foot (now [[Yorkshire Regiment|2 YORKS]]) *The [[Cheshire Regiment|22nd (Cheshire) Regiment]] - 22nd Regt of Foot (now [[Mercian Regiment|1 MERCIAN]]) *The [[Royal Welch Fusiliers]] - 23rd Regt of Foot (now [[Royal Welsh|1 R WELSH]]) *The [[King's Own Scottish Borderers]] - 25th Regt of Foot (now part of 1 SCOTS) {{fnb|7}} The [[Royal Marines]], as the descendent of the old Army marine regiments of the 17th and 18th centuries, was included in the Order of Precedence after the descendent of the 49th Foot (the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry), which was the last regiment formed prior to the formation of the Royal Marines, when not on parade with the Royal Navy. On the completion of the infantry reorganisation in 2007, the RGBWLI became part of [[The Rifles]], and moved last in the Order of Precedence. The Royal Marines will thus move behind the descendent of the 48th Foot (the Royal Anglian Regiment). When naval contingents are present, Royal Marine units parade as part of the [[Naval Service]], to the right of all regiments of the Army. Update as of April 2008 - as the Royal Marines are now no longer a separate arm of the Royal Navy, but have become an integral part of it, they no longer have a place amongst the (Army) infantry regiments and now take their place as part of the Royal Navy and parade on the right of the line: that is to say they are the senior formation on ceremonial occasions, even if there is no other Naval contingent present. If other contingents of the Royal Navy are on parade, the Royal Marines take their place after them, but before all army regiments and corps. ("''The Royal Marines are no longer in the Army order of precedence, but now assume precedence within the Royal Navy at all times.''" Defence Instructions and Notices (DIN) 2007DIN09-027 "'''''The Precedence of Regiments and Corps in the Army and within the Infantry'''''" released August 2007.)<br> {{fnb|8}} Although The Rifles is descended from many numbered regiments, it is last in the order of precedence because the unnumbered regiment '''The Rifle Brigade''' has served longest as a rifle regiment. The Royal Gurkha Rifles comes before The Rifles because one of its predecessors (the 2nd Gurkhas) entered service before the Rifle Brigade ceased using its old number (95th). As both the Royal Gurkha Rifles and The Rifles are rifle regiments they come last in the order of precedence, with only the SAS after them (the SAS does not fall into any of the other categories). This is why the Parachute Regiment, which is classed as a line infantry regiment, comes above both. ===Precedence within the Territorial Army=== 1. The [[Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers]] (Militia) 2. The [[Honourable Artillery Company]] 3. Royal Armoured Corps *The [[Royal Yeomanry]] *The [[Royal Wessex Yeomanry]] *The [[Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry]] *The [[Queen's Own Yeomanry]] 4. Royal Regiment of Artillery (Volunteers) 5. Corps of Royal Engineer (Volunteers) 6. Royal Corps of Signals (Volunteers) 7. Infantry *[[52nd Lowland Regiment|52nd Lowland]], 6th Battalion [[The Royal Regiment of Scotland]] *[[51st Highland Regiment|51st Highland]], 7th Battalion [[The Royal Regiment of Scotland]] *3rd Battalion, [[Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment|The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (Queen’s and Royal Hampshires)]] *The [[London Regiment]] *4th Battalion, [[Duke of Lancaster's Regiment|The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border)]] *5th Battalion, [[The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers]] *3rd Battalion, [[The Royal Anglian Regiment]] *4th Battalion, [[Yorkshire Regiment|The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th & 33rd/76th Foot)]] *4th Battalion, [[The Mercian Regiment]] *3rd Battalion, [[The Royal Welsh]] *2nd Battalion, [[Royal Irish Regiment (1992)|The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th & Ulster Defence Regiment]] *4th Battalion, [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|The Parachute Regiment]] *6th Battalion, [[The Rifles]] *7th Battalion, [[The Rifles]] 8. Special Air Service *[[Artists' Rifles|21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists Rifles)]] *[[23 SAS|23rd Special Air Service Regiment]] 9. Army Air Corps (Volunteers) 10. The Royal Logistic Corps (Volunteers) 11. Royal Army Medical Corps (Volunteers) 12. Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (Volunteers) 13. Adjutant General’s Corps (Volunteers) 14. Intelligence Corps (Volunteers) 15. The [[Royal Gibraltar Regiment]] (As a Colonial Force The Royal Gibraltar Regiment comes after the TA) {{Portal|British Army|Flag of the British Army.svg|65}} [[Category:British Army]]