Royal Green Jackets The Royal Green Jackets ( RGJ ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army , one of two " large regiments " within the Light Division ( the other being The Light Infantry ) . History . It was formed in 1966 by the amalgamation of the three separate regiments of the Green Jackets Brigade : There were also two Territorial Army battalions made up as follows During the 1980s , the battalions were deployed to various parts of Northern Ireland ( Operation Banner ) . The 1st , 2nd and 3rd battalions were also based in West Germany , Osnabrück ( 1RGJ ) , Minden ( 2RGJ ) and Celle ( 3RGJ ) , where the Queen visited the Regiment in the mid 1980s . The 4th and 5th Battalions were also part of the NORTHAG NATO forces based in West Germany prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall . In 1992 1st RGJ was disbanded and 2 / RGJ and 3 / RGJ renumbered 1 / RGJ and 2 / RGJ respectively . The last ever Royal Green Jackets unit was the London Oratory CCF who were rebadged as Irish Guards in 2010 . The regiment ' s greatest loss of life came on 20 July 1982 when seven RGJ bandsmen were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb which exploded during a public concert featuring the music from " Oliver ! " to 120 people at the bandstand in Regents Park . After the 1992 reorganisation , the unit was mostly based overseas in Dhekelia , Cyprus and Paderborn , Germany as well as in Northern Ireland and saw action in Bosnia and Kosovo during the Yugoslav Wars . Both battalions returned to the UK by 2002 and one battalion served on Operation Telic in Iraq , the regiment ' s last ever assignment before the amalgamation . In 1975 to 1977 in Berlin 3 RGJ had a mascot called Charlie the Pig Traditions . Their motto was " Celer et Audax " ( Latin : " Swift and Bold " ) . As they were used as shock troops and marksmen , they had to get to the front line of battle as fast as was possible ; as a result the RGJ marched at 140 paces per minute ( at a 15 " pace ) whereas other regiments march at just 120 ( with an 18 " stride ) . Until recently no other regiment has devoted so much time to becoming highly proficient with the rifle , even though it has been part of standard army issue for 140 years ; as a consequence , the RGJ ' s lowest rank ( other than ' recruit ' ) is Rifleman ( Rfn ) , rather than Private ( Pte ) , as in other regiments . The regiment was classed as a ' rifle ' regiment , having its lineage in the regiments of foot that were equipped with the first Baker rifle s . Traditionally , rifle regiments wore rifle green tunics , an early form of camouflage , instead of the red jackets worn by line infantry , hence the regimental name . Also , the regiment carried no colours , as traditionally rifle regiments , being skirmishers and sharpshooters , had no need to identify where their fellows were on the battlefield . So , the battle honours of the Royal Green Jackets were worn on the regiment ' s cap badge . Infantry in the regiment wore a beret with the badge behind the left eye towards the side of the head , traditionally to show that they do not need to hide behind their colours to show how good the regiment is . The Royal Green Jackets ' predecessors were issued with short swords instead of bayonets as the Baker rifle s of the past were shorter than the traditional musket , fitting the sword to the rifle made the overall weapon length the same as a musket with bayonet attached . The RGJ consequently referred to their bayonets as ' swords ' . The Royal Green Jackets and its antecedent regiments , have been awarded , with a total of 59 , more Victoria Crosses than any other infantry unit . The Royal Artillery , with 65 , currently hold the most in the British Army . Amalgamations of 2007 . As part of the 2004 restructuring of the infantry , the RGJ was scheduled to be largely unaffected - though the regiment had already been reduced to two Regular battalions in 1992 . The regiment would have received a new Territorial Army battalion through the grouping together of the various RGJ companies of the Royal Rifle Volunteers and the London Regiment . However , on 24 November 2005 it was announced that after discussions between The Light Infantry and the RGJ , the two would be merged with the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry and Royal Gloucestershire , Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry ( RGBW ) by the end of 2007 to form a single large regiment to be called The Rifles . The new regiment was to contain five Regular Battalions and two TA Battalions . The reorganisation into " The Rifles " took effect on 1 February 2007 : The Maltese Cross cap badge of the RGJ was adopted as the belt badge of The Rifles and will carry the battle honours . The Rifles is a Rifle Regiment and as such will not carry colours . The title " rifleman " was adopted for soldiers of the rank of private , as it had been with the Royal Green Jackets . The Royal Green Jackets had four Combined Cadet Force units , which were part of the London Oratory School CCF , Winchester College CCF , Rutlish School CCF and Royal Grammar School , High Wycombe CCF ( which was originally attached to the Buckinghamshire Battalion ) . Uniform . All Green jackets would have historically been made of wool with a lining of linen to give shape to the garment . The modern scarlet wool is also supplied by " Abimelech Hainsworth " and is much lighter than the traditional material , which was intended for hard wear on active service . Their boots were made of thick , imitation animal hide ; this was then lined with a thin layer of wool . They had a small pouch on the side of their hip which contained the ammunition for their rifles .