Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's)
Cap badge
Active1 July 1881 – present
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeLine infantry
RoleLight Infantry Company / SCPD
SizeOne reinforced company
Garrison/HQRHQ – Stirling Castle[1]
Company – Redford Barracks
Nickname(s)Thin Red Line
Motto(s)Ne Obliviscaris, Sans Peur
March
Mascot(s)A Shetland Pony named "Cruachan"
AnniversariesBalaklava (25 October 1854)
Commanders
Ceremonial chiefKing Charles III
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until amalgamation into the Royal Regiment of Scotland on 28 March 2006.

The regiment was created under the Childers Reforms in 1881, as the Princess Louise's (Sutherland and Argyll Highlanders), by the amalgamation of the 91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot and 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, amended the following year to reverse the order of the "Argyll" and "Sutherland" sub-titles.[2] The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was expanded to fifteen battalions during the First World War (1914–1918) and nine during the Second World War (1939–1945). The 1st Battalion served in the 1st Commonwealth Division in the Korean War and gained a high public profile for its role in Aden during 1967.

As part of the restructuring of the British Army's infantry in 2006, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment), the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) and the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) into the seven-battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland. Following a further round of defence cuts announced in July 2012, the 5th Battalion was reduced to a single light infantry company called Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders).

  1. ^ "Thin Red Line print heading to Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders' Stirling HQ". The Courier. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Imperial War Museum". Retrieved 27 October 2016.