The regiment consists of a total of five battalions: one of these will be formed by the amalgamation of the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers, while the others are each formed from one of the remaining Scottish regiments. Of all of the new regiments formed following the announcement of 16 December 2004, the Royal Regiment of Scotland is the only one where the former regimental titles have been retained with the new battalion designations as subtitles(see below). There is however a common badge for regimental staff, but distinctions such as the historical badges and hackles will be retained by the battalions.
The creation of large regiments through the merger of long established units has affected most of the British Army over the past thirty years. The process has until now impacted mainly on English, Welsh and Northern Irish regiments. The creation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland has encountered considerable opposition amongst both former soldiers and Scottish nationalist groups. It has been argued that the establishment of large regiments elsewhere in the British Army has quickly led to a loss of separate identity amongst the constituent battalions as personnel are posted back and forward. The new regiment is a kilted one and there are concerns that the much older Lowland units (who wore trews) will effectively disappear into a Highland ethos. The Ministry of Defence case that change was necessary to enhance professional efficiency, to improve conditions of service and to resolve recruiting and retention problems among some Scottish units appears to have been accepted by the majority of serving personnel. The insistence in some quarters that the Scottish regiments must be treated as a special case has not won wide support amongst the army at large.
The amalgamation remains an emotional one however because of the symbolic loss of the individual regiments' history and status. An organization called Save the Scottish Regiments [link]
was created to campaign against the plan, and the influential newspaper The Scotsman also opposed it.
The status of the Black Watch has been particularly controversial. When the plan to amalgamate the regiments was announced, the Black Watch was on duty in a dangerous part of Iraq. Hoon was accused of "stabbing the soldiers in the back" and being motivated purely by political concerns.
In August 2005, the new cap badge was unveiled for regimental staff - it incorporates the saltire cross of St Andrew and the Lion Rampant, which are two recognisable symbols of Scotland. As a Royal regiment, the cap badge is surmounted by a crown, in this case the Crown of Scotland. The regiment's motto is 'Nemo me impune lacessit' (no one assails me with impunity) - this is one of the mottos of Scotland, and is also the motto of several of the then-existing Scottish regiments.
The regiment was initially formed of six regular battalions on March 282006. On August 1 2006, the Royal Scots Battalion and King's Own Scottish Borderers Battalion will be amalgamated into the 1st Battalion, leaving the final regular roll of five battalions.
Organisation
All regular battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, to preserve regional ties and former regimental indentites, took the name of their former individual regiments.
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - Air Assault/Light Role
The light role battalions will rotate locations periodically. The air assault battalion will rotate this role with two other line infantry battalions. The armoured infantry battalion will remain in its fixed location.
The regiment's Colonel-in-Chief will be HM The Queen. The colonels-in-chief of the constituent regiments making up the new regiment will become the Royal Colonels of their representative battalions:
Note 2: The King's Own Scottish Borderers, which will amalgamate with the Royal Scots to form the 1st Battalion, have not had a Colonel-in-Chief since the death of Princess Alice in 2004.
