The 1871 helmet replaced the 1847 pattern helmet, but retained the falling red horsehair plume. It was gilt for officers and brass for the men, with silver or white metal stars on the front as a basis for the central badge. The officers’ badge was more ornate, having red and blue enamel on a gilt Garter. There were two versions of the central device for officers; the royal crest in silver, as seen here, or the VR cypher also in silver. In his book Head Dress of the British Heavy Cavalry (Schiffer 1999), David J J Rowe speculates that the Royal Crest badge came first and the VR badge later.
The helmet worn by other ranks had a simpler badge based on a white metal rayed star. It had a brass Garter inscribed, as on the officers’ helmets, HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE and the numeral 1 on a central oval of black leather. This was the final pattern of heavy cavalry helmet, worn in full dress during the 20th Century.
