Metal Shoulder Titles 1939-1945

During the interwar years, Service Dress was the main uniform of the Canadian soldier.  All units adopted distinctive metal shoulder titles which were worn on this uniform.  The design of these badges was set down by General Orders.  Rifle regiments commonly wore blackened badges, other units wore brass for the most part, though some regiments had white metal.  Officers badges were generally identical to their men's, though in some cases sterling silver or gilt versions were either adopted by all the officers, or purchased privately by individuals.  

In the wake of the 1920 re-organization of Canada's land forces, regulations forbade shoulder titles from having numerals, and demanded that a bar had to appear at both top and bottom of the title.

The page on Special Distinctions on this website provides an account of the special oak leaf shaped shoulder badges adopted by the Canadian Scottish Regiment (1st Battalion only), Calgary Highlanders, and Winnipeg Light Infantry.

In the Second World War, metal shoulder titles were forbidden from use on Battle Dress, though some units ignored this restriction in the early days of the war, before the cloth slip on shoulder titles were adopted.

Once Battle Dress was adopted, the metal shoulder titles ceased to be relevant to most Other Ranks, though officers continued to wear them on their Service Dress and Khaki Drill jackets, which were privately purchased by them.

Midway through the war, as a conservation measure, all Canadian soldiers who were wearing metal shoulder titles were ordered to adopt generic CANADA badges rather than distinctive unit titles.  There was some resistance to this and unit badges were probably retained as far as possible, with permission being given to "wear out" the older unit badges.

Many thanks to Bill Ellis for taking the time to scan the majority of badges shown on this page.

Royal Canadian Artillery	Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers	Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
Royal Canadian Army Service Corps	Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps	Canadian Dental Corps
Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps	Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers	Canadian Technical Training Corps IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION
Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps (See note below)	Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps	Corps of Military Staff Clerks
Canadian Postal Corps	Canadian Chaplain Service IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION	Canadian Forestry Corps IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION
Veterans Guard of Canada IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION	Canadian Provost Corps (1 Provost Company)	Canadian Parachute Corps IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION
Canadian Women's Army Corps	Canadian Infantry Corps IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION	Canadian Intelligence Corps
Canadian Armoured Corps	Canadian Officers Training Corps

CANADIAN MOUNTED UNITS
(UNITS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)

The British Columbia Dragoons	8th Princess Louise's New Brunswick Hussars	15th Alberta Light Horse	1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION
First Hussars	The Fort Garry Horse	14th Canadian Hussars	14th Canadian Light Horse
4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards	The Governor General's Horse Guards	Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)	Manitoba Mounted Rifles
19th Alberta Dragoons	The Prince Edward Island Light Horse	The Royal Canadian Dragoons	2nd Armoured Car Regiment
2nd/10th Dragoons	17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars	7th/11th Hussars	16th/22nd Saskatchewan Horse
	6th Duke of Connaught's Royal Canadian Hussars (Armoured Car)	12th Manitoba Dragoons

CANADIAN INFANTRY UNITS
(UNITS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY)

The Algonquin Regiment	The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) (M.G.)	Argyll Light Infantry (Tank)	The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada
The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles)	The Brockville Rifles	The Calgary Highlanders (Prewar pattern in use by ORs in 1939) (1934 pattern, issued in left and right pairs to officers)
The Calgary Regiment (Tank)	The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (M.G.)	The Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) (M.G.) Courtesy Chris Brooker	The Canadian Grenadier Guards
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (M.G.) First Battalion (Not issued in left and right pairs - this badge was worn on both sides)	The Canadian Scottish Regiment (M.G.) Second and Third  Battalion	The Cape Breton Highlanders	The Carleton and York Regiment
The Dufferin and Haldimand Rifles	The Edmonton Fusiliers (MG)	The Edmonton Regiment	The Elgin Regiment
The Essex Regiment (Tank)	The Essex Scottish	48th Highlanders of Canada	Les Fusiliers de Sherbrooke
Fusiliers du St. Laurent	Les Fusiliers Mont Royal	The Garrison Battalion IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION	The Governor General's Foot Guards
The Grey and Simcoe Foresters	The Halifax Rifles	The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment	The Highland Light Infantry of Canada
Irish Fusiliers of Canada (Vancouver Regiment)	The Irish Regiment of Canada (M.G.)	The Kent Regiment (M.G.)	The King's Own Rifles (M.G.)
The Lake Superior Regiment	The Lanark and Renfrew Scottish Regiment	The Lincoln and Welland Regiment	The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Haltot Regiment)
The Manitoba Mounted Rifles	The Manitoba Volunteer Reserve IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION	The Middlesex and Huron Regiment	The Midland Regiment (Northumberland and Durham)
The New Brunswick Rangers	The New Brunswick Regiment (Tank)	The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (M.G.)	The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
The Ontario Regiment (Tank)	The Oxford Rifles	The Pacific Coast Militia Rangers IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A SHOULDER BADGE WAS EVER AUTHORIZED FOR THIS ORGANIATION	The Perth Regiment (M.G.)
The Pictou Highlanders	The Prince Albert and Battleford Volunteers	The Prince Albert Volunteers	The Prince Edward Island Highlanders
The Prince of Wales' Rangers (Peterborough Regiment) (M.G.)	The Prince Rupert Regiment (M.G.)	The Princess Louise Fusiliers (M.G.)	The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment (M.G.)
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry	The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada	The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada	The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (M.G.)
Le Regiment de Chauteauguay (Mit)	Le Regiment de Gaspe-Bonaventure	Le Regiment de Hull	Le Regiment de Joliette
Le Regiment de la Chaudiere (Mit)	Le Regiment de Levis	Le Regiment de Maisonneuve	Le Regiment de Montmagny
Le Regiment de Quebec (Mit)	Le Regiment de St. Hyacinthe	Le Regiment du Saguenay	The Regina Rifle Regiment
The Rocky Mountain Rangers	The Royal Canadian Regiment	The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)	The Royal Montreal Regiment (M.G.)
The Royal Regiment of Canada	The Royal Rifles of Canada	Royal 22e Regiment	The Royal Winnipeg Rifles
The St. John Fusiliers (M.G.)	The Saskatoon Light Infantry (M.G.)	The Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury Regiment (M.G.)	The Scots Fusiliers of Canada
The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada	The Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment	The Sherbrooke Regiment (M.G.)	The South Alberta Regiment
The South Saskatchewan Regiment	The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders	The Three Rivers Regiment (Tank)	The Toronto Scottish Regiment (M.G.)
Victoria Rifles of Canada	Les Voltigeurs de Quebec	The Westminster Regiment (M.G.)	The West Nova Scotia Regiment
	The Winnipeg Grenadiers (M.G.)	The Winnipeg Light Infantry (M.G.) Pre-oakleaf pattern badge - it is not clear if this was used in WW II by ORs or not (Oakleaf badge, issued in left and right pairs - possibly only to officers)