In 1966 the British Army merged the three separate regiments in the Green Jackets Brigade together with two territorial regiments to create a new Royal Green Jackets Regiment. This new regiment could trace its lineage back to the old rifle regiments and its name came from the green uniforms worn by rifle regiments from the Napoleonic Wars onwards. The cap badge for the regiment drew on the Maltese cross design used by two of its forebears, the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade: 

The cap badge, made in staybrite anodised aluminium, consists of a Maltese cross with the light infantry bugle in a central boss, surrounded by the name of the regiment. A selection of the regiment’s forebears’ battle honours are listed on the arms of the cross, with its first and arguably most important ‘Peninsular’ in a separate box at the top of the vertical arm. The cross is surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves with a small naval crown at the bottom and a much larger St Edward’s crown on the top of the badge. 

The badge would most typically be worn on the regiment’s rifle green beret: 

A slider is fitted to the rear to allow it to be mounted on headwear: 

The Royal Green Jackets were merged with other rifle and light infantry regiments to form one large ‘Rifles’ regiment in 2007. The reorganisation into The Rifles took effect on 1 February 2007 with the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets becoming the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles and the 2nd Battalion Royal Green Jackets becoming 4th Battalion, The Rifles. The 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets’ final operational tour was in Basra, in Iraq, on Operation Telic in 2006-07