The East Surrey Regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childer’s Reforms and combined the 31st Regiment of Foot, the 70th Regiment of Foot and the 1st and 3rd Surrey Militia. It was to be 17 years until the regiment adopted the cap badge that it was to use for the entirety of its existence, the new badge being introduced in 1898. The badge consisted of a garter star with a crown above. Onto this was superimposed the coat of arms of Guildford and below is a scroll with ‘East Surrey’ on it:

The cap badge is a little unusual in being made of bi-metal construction, with the star and castle made in white metal and the rest in gilding metal, although examples stamped purely in brass as an economy measure can be found.

The rear of the badge has a standard slider to allow it to be fixed to a cap:

This cap badge has the King’s crown, as used from 1902 to 1952, the majority of the regiment’s history. Examples can also be found with the Victorian crown, used for the first four years of the Regiment’s life and with the post war Queen’s crown used from 1952 to 1956 when the regiment was amalgamated with the West Surrey Regiment to form the Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment, the new regiment using the garter star of this badge in its new insignia.