Artists Rifles

The Artists Rifles
Cap badge of The Artists Rifles
Active	1859–1945 1947–present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Army Reserve
Type	Special forces
Role	Special operations
Part of	United Kingdom Special Forces
Garrison/HQ	Regent's Park Barracks, London, United Kingdom
Engagements	Boer War First World War Malayan Emergency War on Terror  • War in Afghanistan
Decorations	8 VCs, 56 DSOs, 893 MCs, 26 DFCs, 15 AFCs, 6 DCMs, 15 MMs, 14 MSMs, 564 MIDs (First World War)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Henry Wyndham Phillips and Frederic Leighton

The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles^{[nb 1]} is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R).

Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regiment saw active service during the Second Boer War and the First World War, earning a number of battle honours. During the Second World War, it was used as an officer training unit. The regiment was disbanded in 1945, but in 1947 it was re-established to resurrect the Special Air Service Regiment.^[2] Together with 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) (23 SAS(R)), it forms the Special Air Service (Reserve) (SAS(R)) part of the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) directorate.^[3]

Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).