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CLOTH SHOULDER TITLES OF THE
CANADIAN ARMY
(Infantry Corps)
1939-1945
A - N
At the outbreak of war, only four units of the Canadian Army were permitted to wear cloth shoulder titles; by tradition Guards Regiments of the British Army wore white on scarlet cloth titles, and so too did the Canadian Grenadier Guards and the Governor General's Foot Guards. PPCLI also wore a Guards-style shoulder flash. Dress regulations also show that the Canadian Provost Corps was permitted a special cloth shoulder title.
With the introduction of Battle Dress, new regulations reinforced the designers' wish that the new uniform remain unadorned by colourful insignia, and the only official unit insignia was to be the slip on "worsted" shoulder title shown on a seperate page of this website. The exceptions named above continued to wear their embroided shoulder titles on their uniforms.
During 1941, these regulations were relaxed, and cloth titles were introduced for both Active (whether overseas or in Canada) and Reserve units (though Reserve units seem to have kept the worsted slip on titles rather than the coloured ones shown below).
There are many variations of these badges for each regiment, especially for those that had battalions serving overseas. Badges of European manufacture were usually of inferior quality, with thicker thread, crude materials, and as the war progressed, embroidered badges were phased out in England in favour of printed canvas versions.
NOTE ON BADGES: SOME IMAGES MAY REPRESENT POSTWAR VERSIONS; ALL WARTIME VERSIONS MAY NOT BE SHOWN. ANYONE WITH ANY FURTHER INFORMATION ON THESE BADGES PLEASE CONTACT THE WEBMASTER.
| Regiment | Badges | Thumbnails |
The Algonquin Regiment |
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. Top badge of first scan is a Dutch made bullion officer's badge. |   |
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The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)
(M.G.) |
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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| Argyll Light Infantry (Tank) | ||
The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of
Canada |
At
right selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. Prototype badge. |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander (variant). |
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The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of
Connaught's Own Rifles) |
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis; top badge has the "Aldershot weave", Bill notes that "Regiment" is abbreviated, also. |
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The Brockville Rifles |
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The Calgary Highlanders |
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| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. Badge at lower right is a prototype badge that was never issued. Also note that some of these badges are postwar issue. |
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| The Calgary Regiment (Tank) |
A selection of 1st Battalion (later 14th Canadian Tank Regiment) badges from the collection of Dwayne Hordij. |
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| The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (M.G.)
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A selection of 1st Battalion badges from the collection of Bill Alexander, showing both canvas and cloth variants. According to leading collector John Cameron, the titles without the "MG" identifier seem to have been most common in 1944. |
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| The Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) (M.G.) | A selection of 1st Battalion badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
The Canadian Grenadier Guards |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander.. |
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First Canadian Parachute Battalion |
From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
Second Canadian Parachute Battalion |
From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (M.G.) |
When the Regiment was informed that their special metal oak leaf badges could not be worn on battle dress (see the page on Special Distinctions) the Regiment adopted a title in cloth incorporating oak leaf design. Only the 1st battalion wore the oak leaf; the 2nd and 3rd battalions wore a plain blue and red shoulder title. Artifacts and information courtesy Robert J. Russell, Canadian Scottish Regiment Museum. Photo by Len Reeves. |
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A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. Note the word "The" in the lower badge. |
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The Cape Breton Highlanders |
A selection of 1st Battalion badges from the collection of Dwayne Hordij. |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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The Carleton and York Regiment |
A selection of 1st Battalion badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| The Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles | A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis; bottom badge is 1st Battalion variant. |
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| The Edmonton Fusiliers (MG) | A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis; note in particular the top badge. |  |
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| The Edmonton Regiment The Edmonton Regiment was renamed "The Loyal Edmonton Regiment" in 1943 to reflect its affiliation with the Loyal Border Regiment of the British Army. |
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |   |
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| The Elgin Regiment
|
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| The Essex Regiment (Tank) | ||
The Essex Scottish |
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
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| 48th Highlanders of Canada | A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke | A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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Fusiliers du St. Laurent |
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Les Fusiliers Mont Royal |
A selection of FMR badges from the collection of Bill Alexander, showing both canvas and cloth variants.
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A 3rd Battalion variant from the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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| The Garrison Battalion | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| From the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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The Governor General's Foot Guards |
A
selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander, showing both canvas and cloth
variants (this is a mix of wartime and postwar badges).
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| The Grey and Simcoe Foresters | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| From the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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| The Halifax Rifles | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| From the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment |
Badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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The Highland Light Infantry of Canada |
A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |   |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
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| Irish Fusiliers of Canada (Vancouver Regiment) | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |   |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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The Irish Regiment of Canada (M.G.) |
A selection of badges from the collection of Dwayne Hordij. |  |
| A
selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. Bill adds: "The post-war IRISH REGT of Canada titles are found in two shades of embroidery. The 1st Bn is gold or yellow (a true yellow) while the 2nd or Sudbury bn of the Irish are buff (pale cream colour). This can be easily seen in titles." |
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| The Kent Regiment (M.G.) | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| The King's Own Rifles (M.G.) | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| From the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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The Lake Superior Regiment |
From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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| The Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |  |
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The Lincoln and Welland Regiment |
From the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton
Regiment) |
From the collection of Bill Ellis.
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A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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The Loyal Edmonton Regiment |
From the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| The Manitoba Volunteer Reserve | From the collection of Bill Ellis - this is a canvas armband, not a shoulder title per se. |
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| The Middlesex and Huron Regiment | ||
| The Midland Regiment (Northumberland and Durham) | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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From the collection of Bill Alexander. |
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| The New Brunswick Rangers | From the collection of Bill Ellis. |
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| The New Brunswick Regiment (Tank) | ||
The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (M.G.) |
A selection of
badges from the collection of Bill Alexander.
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The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment |
From the collection of Bill Ellis. |  |
| A selection of badges from the collection of Bill Alexander. |   |
