Fringe sample, drummer, 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers), sealed pattern, 1860

Twisted blue and white worsted fringe, 1.75 inches in length.

A 'sealed pattern' is a prototype of any item that the British Army issued to soldiers. It provided clothing or equipment suppliers with an example to copy.

The regiment was a line infantry regiment, part of the Prince of Wales' Division, founded in 1689 just after the Glorious Revolution (1688). It was later designated a fusilier regiment, becoming The Welch Regiment of Fusiliers, in 1702. In 1714, King George I renamed it The Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers until the standardisation of names came in in the 1751 reforms and it became the 23rd Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers). They became the more simply named The Royal Welsh Fusiliers under the Childers Reforms of 1881. In 2006, it was amalgamated for the first time with the Royal Regiment of Wales, becoming the 1st battalion of the Royal Welsh.

When this fringe sample was sealed, in 1860, the regiment was serving in the 2nd China War (1856-1860).