A new Field Service Cap (FSC) was introduced throughout the army in 1893 which necessitated the requirement for a new style of cap badge. The agreed badge incorporated the Royal Bengal Tiger of the old 65th of Foot and the Union Rose and Ducal Coronet of the old 84th of Foot.
The Tiger is set within a scroll and laurel wreath made of gilding metal with the words ‘York and Lancaster’. The Coronet is in white metal as is the rose but the rose has a gilding metal centre. The Tiger, with its tail looped twice over its back, stands upon a field with its right front paw slightly raised but pointing down.
This pattern was sealed on 28th October 1897 and came into use throughout the regiment from this date onwards. It is colloquially known as the ‘Cat and Cabbage’ or ‘Tiger and Rose’ and was worn on all subsequent types of headress during the remainder of the regiment’s history.
Methods of fitting to the headress tended to be of 4 types and can be a guide to dating badges.
Initially, between 1897 and 1903 a pair of loops were brazed to the rear of the badge with the badge being held in place on the headress by a split pin.
In 1903, the fitting changed to a vertical shank (commonly described as a slider) which was soldered to the rear of the badge.5 These badges with sliders were originally intended for use in the Brodrick Cap and Foreign Service Helmet (FSH) with the vertical shank being slid into the Puggaree (a wrap of material around the FSH) or into a special socket on the helmet. Although this date is indicative of when Tiger and Rose badges were no longer fitted with loops, it should be noted that some Officers badges continued to be fitted with loops right up to 1968.
Leading on from this, with the introduction of new Forage and Service Dress Caps in the early 20th century, badges were still fitted with vertical shanks but this time a shorter version. This pattern of shorter vertical shank was introduced in 1906.
As a general guide, it is widely believed that badges with vertical shanks of a length of 46mm or longer can be dated as being from between 1903 and 1906. Badges with vertical shanks of a length of 40mm can be dated as being from 1906 onwards.
The third type of badge fitting is the pin broach fitting. These are badges with the original loops or vertical shanks cut off and replaced with a broach fitting. It is believed these badges were adapted to be fixed to the FSH and were pinned through the Puggaree to avoid damage to the structure of the helmet.
The fourth type of fitting were blades and were used mainly on the Officers Service Dress (OSD) badges from 1902 onwards.
Regular and Wartime Battalions-1897 to 1968
Although fittings can be a guide to the date a specific badge came into use, it should be remembered that there was a degree of overlap with regard to badges being in use. For example, although sliders were introduced in 1903, badges with loops would have been used long after 1903 and until existing stocks were used up.
In addition, a soldier who was issued with a badge fitted with loops in, say 1900, may have continued to use the same badge up to or even during WW1.
This section looks at the most commonly produced pattern of York and Lancaster badge along with its many variations. As there are more than 40 variations of the standard Tiger and Rose badge (including officers badges bit not volunteer badges), to assist the reader, I have designated a letter to identify each variation.