First Or, King's or Queen's Company

The Union throughout. In the centre the royal crest, viz. on the imperial crown proper a lion statant guardant, sol crowned of the first, ensigned with the like imperial crown. In the dexter canton the number of the company inscribed in Roman characters, or.

In the year 1509 King Henry the Eighth assumed the lion crowned as a supporter instead of the greyhound, and it has ever since been used as the royal crest of the reigning sovereign.

Second Company

The Union throughout. In the centre the royal badge of King Henry the Eighth, viz. a rose gules, surmounted by another argent, barbed and seeded proper, ensigned with the imperial crown. In the dexter canton the number of the company in Roman characters, gold.

This badge is suggestive of one of the most critical periods of English history. In 1485, the civil wars, known as the "Wars of the Roses," which had raged for a lengthened period, were terminated by the union of the princely Houses of York and Lancaster, King Henry the Seventh having intermarried with Elizabeth daughter of Edward the Fourth. That monarch, on his marriage, assumed with other badges, that of the red and white roses impaled, and then incorporated; this latter now forms the badge of the 2nd company.