Cap badge, Gilgit Scouts, 1956

Silver plate badge in the form of an ibex.

The Gilgit Scouts was formed in 1913. The Gilgit Agency was the British administrative system in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir. The Scouts was a force with British officers which formed part of the Frontier Corps, undertaking local and border security. In 1947 the pro-Pakistan unit was involved in a rebellion against state forces. After independence the Gilgit Scouts became a paramilitary force operating in Pakistan's Northern Areas. The ibex mountain goat emblem reflects the unit's local knowledge of, and skill in negotiating, the mountainous terrain of the region.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.