Cap and collar badges, 12th (Nelson) Regiment

This unit's cap badge is on display at Te Papa in Gallipoli: The scale of our war.

These brass badges for cap and collar, identified wearers as members of the 12th (Nelson) Regiment.

The Regiment formed on 17 March 1911, amalgamating the 1st Battalion Nelson Infantry with the 2nd Battalion Nelson Infantry to form the 12th (Nelson) Regiment with Headquarters at Nelson. It supplied Service Companies during the First World War. These companies served in Egypt, on Gallipoli and in France as part of the Canterbury Regiment.

The Regiment was re-designated as the 12th (Nelson and Marlborough) Regiment in 1917.

Badge design

The proposed design for the badge was approved by Lieutentant General Godley, GOC, New Zealand Military Forces, on 8 July 1911.

The badge design comprises a stag within a circle flanked by fern-fronds, surmounted by the number 12. The circle contains the legend '(Nelson) Infantry'.