List of Helmet and Shoulder Flashes and Hackles of South African Military Units

Military units in South Africa have a long tradition of using unit insignia to visually identify themselves through the use of helmet and shoulder flashes, as well as hackles. This page serves as an informative overview of the various flashes and hackles utilized by different military units in the South African Military. The insignia were predominantly worn from the post-World War I period until approximately 1943, when the use of cloth helmets ceased and were replaced by berets in the Union Defence Force (UDF). These visual symbols represent the identities and histories of each unit and are unique in their design and colors. The page provides detailed descriptions and images of the different flashes and hackles, as well as their origins and meanings.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Description

Flash - Natal Infantry in the 1920s and 1930s. Blue on top for Natal and Black on the bottom for Infantry

As a general guide to flashes of the period, the colours had meaning. For Corps/Arm of service, these were, generally, the following:^[4]

Grey - Mounted Units
Black - Infantry
Yellow - Artillery^[3]

The bottom colour would be the arm of service, the top colour the province.

Blue - Natal
Yellow - OVS
Red - Cape
Green - Transvaal^[3]

Reserve Force

Reserve Force Units
Corps / Unit	From	To	Flash
SA Staff Corps (SAStC)	1912	1920
SA Staff Corps (SAStC)	1920	1935
SA Staff Corps (SAStC)	1935	1942
South African Field Artillery (SAFA)	1923	1935
South African Garrison Artillery (SAGA)	1923	1935
Artillery Units	1935	1942
South African Instructional Corps	1923	1942
South African Mounted Riflemen (SAMR)	1922	1926
Infantry Branch (Citizen Force)	1923	1942	^[a]
Infantry Branch (Citizen Force)	1942	1945	^[b]
South African Engineers (SAEC)	1923	1928	^[c]
South African Engineers (SAEC)	1928	1939
South African Engineers (SAEC)	1940	1945
Field Engineers and Signals	1923	1931
South African Army Ordnance Corps (SAOC)	1923	1939
South African Service Corps (SASC)	1923	1939
South African Army Pay & Clerical Corps (SAAP & CC) ^[d]	1923	1939
Technical Services Corps (TSC)	1939	1942
Technical Services Corps (TSC)	1942	1945
Quartermaster Services Corps (QSC)	1939	1942
South African Medical Corps (SAMC)	1923	1942
South African Veterinary Corps (SAVC)	1923	1942
South African Corps of Signals (SACS)	1923	1942
South African Corps of Signals (SACS)	1942	1945
South African Corps of Military Police (SACMP)	1939	1942
South African Army Band^[e]	_	_	^[f]
South African Permanent Force Cadets	1920	1939
South African Air Force (SAAF)	1920	1942

Active Citizen Force (ACF)

Active Citizen Force (ACF) Units
Corps / Unit	From	To	Flash
Cape Field Artillery (CFA)	1923	1939
Natal Field Artillery (NFA)	1923	1939
Transvaal Horse Artillery (THA)^[2]	1904	1939
1 Oranjie Vrystaat Veld Artillerie^[g] (1OVSVA)^[h]	1926	1926
2 Oranjie Vrystaat Veld Artillerie^[i] (2OVSVA)^[h]	1926	1926
Cape Garrison Artillery (CGA)	1923	1939
Cape Town - 1 Medium Battery	1934	1939
Armoured Train (Cape)	1934	1939
Armoured Train (Transvaal)	1935	1939
Royal Natal Carbineers (RNC)	1923	1942
Natal Mounted Rifles (NMR)	1923	1940	^[j]
Natal Mounted Rifles (NMR)^[k]	1940	1943
Umvoti Mounted Rifles (UMR)^[5]	1923	1942
Imperial Light Horse (ILH)	1905	1942
Imperial Light Horse (ILH)	1942	1942
Royal Durban Light Infantry (RDLI)	1923	1942
Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles (DEOR) DHQ^[l]^[m]	-	-
Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles (DECOR)	1902	1942
Prince Alfred's Guard (PAG)	1902	1942
First City Regiment (FC)	1924	1935
Kaffrarian Rifles (Kaff R)	1923	1942
Kimberley Regiment (KR)	1923	1942
Cape Peninsula Rifles (CPR)^[n]	1914	1926
Witwatersrand Rifles (WR)	1923	1942
Rand Light Infantry (RLI)	1923	1942
Rand Light Infantry (RLI)	1942	1942
Pretoria Regiment (PR)	1923	1926
Pretoria Regiment (PR)	1926	1942
Pretoria Regiment (PR)^[o]	1942	1942
Regiment Botha (RB)	1934	1942
Regiment de la Rey (RDLR)	1934	1942
Regiment De Wet (RDW)	1934	1939
Regiment Louw Wepner (RLW)	1934	1939
Regiment President Steyn (RPS)	1934	1942
Regiment Suid Westerlike Distrikte (RSWD)	1934	1942
Regiment Westelike Provincie (RWP)^[p]	1934	1942
Die Middlelandse Regiment (DMR)	1934	1942
1 South West Africa Infantry Regiment (SWA1)	1939	1942
Railways and Harbours Brigade HQ (R&H BDE HQ)	1910	1924
Railways and Harbours Brigade (R&H BDE)	1923	1923

Volunteer Units (1939-1945)

Volunteer Units (1939-1945)
Corps / Unit	From	To
2nd Mounted Commando Regiment (2 MCR)	1941	1941
First City/Cape Town Highlanders Regiment (FC/CTH)^[q]	1944	1945
South African Irish Regiment^[q]	-	-
1 TVL BN (1st Res Bde)^[r]	1939	1942
2 (CPR) BN (1st Res Bde)^[r]	-	-
5 BN (1st Res Bde)^[r]	1940	1942
6 BN (1st Res Bde)^[r]	1940	1942
SAEC Survey Company	1940	1945
Cape Corps (CC)	1940	1945
Indian & Malay Corps (I & MC)	1940	1942
Native military corps (NMC)	1940	1946

Divisional Flashes (1940-1945)

Divisional Flashes (1940-1945)
Division	From	To
1st Division	1940	1943
2nd Division	1940	1943
3rd Division	1940	1943
6th Armoured Division	1943	1945

Notes

^ Black Flash
^ The "Traverse Bar" (known colloquially as a "balkie") was usually the colours of the helmet flash. The infantry traverse bar was, in this case, actually the colours of the SSB, which were the colours of the National Flag (Orange, White and Blue)
^ White Flash
^ Later the Pay Corps part was split off to become just South African Army Pay Corps in 1942 with no distinct flash
^ The SSB band was at the time the de facto Army Band
^ Hackle or arm flash
^ 1 Orange Free State Field Artillery
^ ^a ^b 6 Field Regiment (Bloemfontein)
^ 2 Orange Free State Field Artillery
^ The Numeral 3 was white metal, not sewn or embroidered
^ This Sea Green flash was for the NMR/SAAF amalgamated unit. Amalgamation was to bring up severely depleted numbers
^ DHQ Pattern
^ Never worn
^ This was a Reserve unit and neither CF nor ACF
^ Pretoria Regiment wore a very distinctive Traverse Bar (Red & Yellow) below a very distinctive badge Backing. Also, the 1st Battalion at the beginning of the war wore a arm patch
^ Regiment Western Province
^ ^a ^b Hackle
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 1st Reserve Brigade (1940-1943)

References

^ Military Archives Section (1956). Helmet and Shoulder Flashes and Hackles of South African Units. Pretoria: DHQ - HQ Army Chief of Staff.
^ ^a ^b Orpen, Neil D. (1975). The History of the Transvaal Horse Artillery 1904 to 1974 (1st ed.). Transvaal Horse Artillery Regimental Council (published 1 January 1975). ISBN 978-0620023504.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tylden, G. Major (1955). "Badges, Buttons and Shoulder Titles of South African Regiments: From the Parkyn Collection". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 33 (136): 162–167. JSTOR 44226309. Retrieved 13 January 2023 – via JSTOR.
^ Owen, Colin R. (1990). The Military Badges and Insignia of Southern Africa (1st ed.). Chimperie Agencies (published 1 January 1990). ISBN 9780620154383.
^ Coghlan, Mark (2012). History of the Umvoti Mounted Rifles: 1864–2004. Durban, South Africa: Just Done Productions Publishing (published October 2012). ISBN 978-1920-315-77-1. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2023.