**PIPERS** How are crossbelt badges and collar dogs mounted?

[OC Richard]

Traditionally the Scottish military badges had fairly long shanks, each made from a wire formed to create a shank with an eyelet at the end.



In the old days you had to make holes in the fabric of the bonnet, tunic, or belt, shove the shanks through, and pass a cotter pin through the eyelets on the back side.

Here's an officers' doublet where you can see the holes in the collar which were punched for the shanks of the collar badges. (The Seaforth Highlanders wore two collar badges on each side.)



Here's a Seaforth Highlanders officers' doublet with the badges in place. You can see how neat this mounting style looked when done right.



That's how the old badges were made and worn, they were stamped from solid German Silver or brass.

Recently, I think the 1980s, the British military started issuing Staybrite badges, nasty things. The collar badges I've seen had a tab on the back which passed through an oblong grommet made in the tunic collar.

Here's a recent doublet with the grommets on the collar. This would NOT be used with the traditional shank badges seen above, but the specially-made new type of collar badges.