Cap badge, Sikh Light Infantry, 1944-1947

White metal badge in the form of a chakram or throwing quoit, surmounted by a kirpan dagger.

The Mazhbi and Ramdassia Sikh Regiment was re-raised in 1941, during World War Two (1939-1945), a successor unit of the 3rd Sikh Pioneers. The unit was renamed the Sikh Light Infantry in 1944. The unit became part of the Indian Army after Indian Independence in 1947.

Quoits, or chakram, are a traditional edged weapon from the Indian subcontinent, particularly associated with Sikh fighters. They take the form of a flattened metal ring of varying circumference, with a sharpened outer edge, which can be thrown or used in hand-to-hand combat.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.