Cord Boss Badges
 

Can anyone address the history, significance behind the wearing of Cord / Boss badges with some Corps and regiments??

I'm guessing, but does it have anything to do with regiments / corps that gained some distinction in India?

Thanks,

Drew

Just surmising here, but cord bosses as a device seem to have originated mainly on Shako type headress in the early 19th century and subsequently evolved into devices worn on OSD or FS caps in modern times, always by rifle regiments and of course by a number of other regiments.
I doubt there is any particular link to India at all.

CB

Pure speculation but found a site online "Headdress: A pictorial history of military headgear from 1660 to 1914."

http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Rankin.pdf

It mentions a French Officer's shako with a 'red woollen ball' (circa 1812) and indicates that perhaps the colour may be for different companies.

Photo #36 :British officer's shako , 76th Foot ,1835-44.
"Other ranks wore an upright worsted plume until 1835 ,when all ranks adopted a ball , white over red for the Line , White for Grenadiers , Green for Light Infantry and Black for The Rifles."

Could the 'woolen ball' have evolved into a boss ?

Wow! Great info / Book - Thanks for sending :)

There were three articles on the subject of cord bosses nearly 40 years ago.


Mortensen, I, 1980 (March), The Cord Boss as a head-dress badge, Crown Imperial, 24-27
Mortensen, I, 1980 (June), More Cord Bosses. Crown Imperial, 22.
Mortensen, I, 1981 (June), … And a few more cord bosses, Crown Imperial, 5


There was a short introduction that gave a history dating from the Napoleonic wars, but my own interest is from 1881.
However, he didn't make any distinction between officers and other ranks, nor between round and oval. In the end he listed every type he could find which is a useful compendium - I remember only a couple of mistaken identities.



For Vol/ TF Bns they were worn on the full dress busby; officers usually had an oval boss with a crown on - often acompanied it below by a metal bugle. ORs had small oval boss. Officers wore small bosses on service caps.


Here are a some of my own; 2VB KLR, OR; OR 5TF Bn KLR busby at top with generic oval badge; 8TF Bn KLR officers badge.

Yes, thanks button (I have the book somewhere but hadn't thought to check through it).