Balmoral bonnet.

**NCA** · 05-19-2011, 12:56 PM

Bought this bonnet this morning and i was wondering what the tartan flash was?Also what badge would have been on it?It is dated inside 1954.Sanders&Brightman Luton.
Thanks.

**Johnny-D** · 05-19-2011, 01:09 PM

Could it be KOSB?

**helldunkle** · 05-19-2011, 05:38 PM

Not sure, I know they wore the Earl of Leven's tartan but cant remember the colours.

**NCA** · 05-19-2011, 11:01 PM

hmm..Could be KOSB..thing is, all the ones of seen like that the red stripe on the tartan runs from top left to bottom right.Did different regiments use this tartan?

**helldunkle** · 05-20-2011, 08:46 AM

the tartan matches the lesley tartan trews issued to the kosb. So kosb it probably is.

**Patgore** · 05-20-2011, 04:09 PM

Check out the Highland Light Infantry flash before you put your money on anything else.

P.

**NCA** · 05-20-2011, 05:56 PM

Thanks for the help folks.
It would appear that this is the flash for H.L.I. The tartan is Mackenzie which looks the same as the Leslie(!)
Im assuming different orientations of the tartan was used by different regiments?

After more googling it seems theres a few regiments use this pattern..

**Patgore** · 05-23-2011, 09:03 PM

Hi, NCA:

To answer your earlier question the MacKenzie tartan was worn by the Seaforths (less the 5th Bn.) as well as the HLI.

The 5th Bn. Seaforths wore the 42nd Government tartan, for reasons best known to themselves.

Cheers,

Pat

**Raymond** · 09-08-2021, 11:29 PM

The TOS Flash is McKenzie 5A for the Highland Light Infantry - in 1959 the HLI and Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF) merged to become The Royal Highland Fusiliers (RHF) and wore the same TOS with a white hackle (no badge) they wore the RHF badge with the Glengarry but no badge on the TOS - in 2004 All of the Scottish Infantry Regiments merged to become The Royal Regiment of Scotland (RRoS) forming 7 Battalions (5 Regular and 2 Territorial Reserve) They all wear the Government Tartan 1A flash now and the new(ish) cap badge of the RRoS each Battalion are identified by the colour of their hackles worn on their TOS's - Hope this helps

**Watchdog** · 11-13-2023, 01:29 PM

by Raymond

The TOS Flash is McKenzie 5A for the Highland Light Infantry - in 1959 the HLI and Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF) merged to become The Royal Highland Fusiliers (RHF) and wore the same TOS with a white hackle (no badge) they wore the RHF badge with the Glengarry but no badge on the TOS - in 2004 All of the Scottish Infantry Regiments merged to become The Royal Regiment of Scotland (RRoS) forming 7 Battalions (5 Regular and 2 Territorial Reserve) They all wear the Government Tartan 1A flash now and the new(ish) cap badge of the RRoS each Battalion are identified by the colour of their hackles worn on their TOS's - Hope this helps

Just saw this old thread whilst looking for something else.
Raymond is correct. The tartan shown here is Mackenzie in the correct orientation for the HLI (subsequently worn by the Royal Highland Fusiliers). Leslie is similar but was worn in a diagonal orientation by the Kings Own Scottish Borderers aka KOSB, who are now part of the 1st Ranger Regt having been re-roled from the Royal Regiment of Scotland along with the Royal Scots.
Raymond also uses the term TOS for Tam O' Shanter bonnet which is correct for the headdress shown here rather than Balmoral bonnet as in the title which refers to a different albeit similar headdress and is an incorrect description of the bonnet here.

Regards

Mark

PS More pictures would illustrate the point but this bonnet is distinct from a later RHF TOS with the same tartan patch due to the style or "cut" of the bonnet and also by features such as the lining not visible in this single image.