Royal Canadian Regiment

The Royal Canadian Regiment
Badge of the regiment
Active	21 December 1883 – present
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army
Type	Line Infantry
Role	Mechanized infantry (two battalions) light role/paratroop (one battalion) light role/primary reserve (one battalion)
Size	Four battalions
Part of	Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Garrison/HQ	RHQ – Petawawa 1st Battalion – Petawawa 2nd Battalion – Gagetown 3rd Battalion – Petawawa 4th Battalion – London
Nickname(s)	formally Royal Canadians, informally Junior Royals
Motto(s)	Pro patria (Latin for 'for country')
March	Quick – "The Royal Canadian Regiment" (aka "St. Catharines") Slow – "Pro Patria"
Anniversaries	Regimental birthday – 21 December Paardeberg Day – 27 February Pachino Day – 10 July Mons Day – 10 November Kowang-san Day – 23 October[1]
Engagements	Fenian Raids North-West Rebellion Second Boer War First World War Second World War Korean War War in Afghanistan
Decorations	Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation – 1st Battalion: Afghanistan, 2006.
Battle honours	See #Battle honours
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	Vacant
Colonel of the Regiment	MGen (ret’d) Denis W. Thompson
Patrons	Judith Irving, Mike Holmes
Notable commanders	William Dillon Otter
Insignia
Tartan	Maple Leaf (2nd Bn pipes and drums)
Abbreviation	RCR

The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked first in the order of precedence amongst Canadian Army infantry regiments, but in a quirk of the rules of seniority, its 4th battalion is ninth.

The RCR was originally authorized as the Infantry School Corps on 21 December 1883, and established its first three company stations at Fredericton, New Brunswick; St Jean, Quebec; and Toronto, Ontario. In 1887 a fourth company was authorized and the next year was established at London, Ontario. Now consisting of three Regular Force battalions and one Reserve Force battalion, the regiment's four battalions are now stationed in Ontario and New Brunswick. With many of its soldiers drawn from Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces in recent decades, the regiment maintains a general connection as the "local" infantry regiment for anglophone eastern Canada.

The regiment is a "British-style" infantry regiment that is the spiritual home and repository of customs and traditions for a number of battalions that do not necessarily serve together operationally. The RCR maintains its Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) in Petawawa, Ontario, which has no operational command role but handles regimental affairs outside the responsibility of the individual battalions. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum is located within historic Wolseley Hall in London, Ontario. Wolseley Barracks in London has been continuously occupied by some element of the regiment since construction of Wolseley Hall was completed in 1888. At various times Wolseley Barracks has been the home of the Regimental Headquarters, the 1st and 2nd Battalions, and remains the home of the 4th Battalion today.