Regimental Cufflinks for Messes, Squadrons and Ships' Companies

Why regimental cufflinks belong at the mess table

Few institutions take their symbols as seriously as the armed forces. A cap badge, a squadron crest or a ship's name tells anyone who knows where a person served, alongside whom, and often through what. Regimental cufflinks carry that identity quietly into civilian dress: onto a dinner shirt at a reunion, a wedding suit, or a smart jacket at a funeral where old comrades gather to say goodbye.

They also suit the rhythm of military social life. Mess dinners, regimental days, battle honour anniversaries and association weekends all come round year after year, and each one is an opportunity for a matching pair that marks the evening. Unlike a tie or a print, cufflinks are small enough to pack for a posting and formal enough for mess kit occasions or black tie.

Because we print your own uploaded artwork, the design is entirely in your hands. It might be a unit's motto set in bold lettering, a photograph of the ship alongside, or a squadron emblem that members designed themselves. The same image is printed on both cufflinks of the pair, square and clean, surrounded by a silver-coloured polished finish.

Regimental cufflinks also bridge generations. A grandfather who served with a battalion decades ago and a grandson now wearing the same cap badge can share a design at a family wedding or a regimental open day, and that tends to start conversations which run long into the evening.

Dinners, reunions and dining-out

Mess dinners. A committee can place a boxed pair at every setting, present them to guests of honour, or offer them to members to buy on the night. Twenty-four pairs for a medium-sized dinner would cost £365 including shipping.

Dining-out. When someone leaves the mess, whether for a new posting, promotion or civilian life, colleagues often want to give something personal that still says where they served. A pair with the unit's artwork and the years of service fits that moment well.

Reunions. Regimental associations, squadron old comrades' groups and ship's company reunions draw together people whose shared experience goes back decades. A reunion design, perhaps with the year or the number of the gathering, turns a good weekend into something members will wear again at the next one.

Remembrance and memorial events. A pair worn at a service of remembrance, or at the funeral of a comrade, can mean a great deal. Many groups choose restrained designs for these occasions, such as initials, a date and a simple motif.

Badges, crests and Crown protection

This is the part to get right before anything else. Many cap badges, regimental crests, squadron badges and ships' badges are protected by the Crown, and using them on goods generally requires approval. Before ordering a design that includes an official badge, please check with the appropriate authority. That is often the regimental headquarters, the association secretary or the Ministry of Defence office that deals with licensing, and they can advise on what is allowed.

Keep any written confirmation with your mess or association records. When you upload artwork you are confirming that you own it or have permission to use it, and we may decline designs we cannot print lawfully. We are an independent Cornish workshop with no connection to the armed forces, so we cannot grant or confirm permission on anyone's behalf.

If permission is not available, there are plenty of good alternatives. Artwork a mess commissions for itself, a photograph members took of their ship, aircraft or vehicle, a motto set in plain type or the dates of a tour all belong to the people who created them.

Designs a unit can make its own

• Motto and dates. A short motto in Latin or English above the years a unit or ship served makes a spare, elegant pair.
• Squadron number. Bold numerals on a coloured background read clearly from across a dining table.
• The ship or aircraft. A clean side-on photograph against sea or sky crops neatly to a square.
• Reunion artwork. A simple emblem designed for a particular gathering, with the year beneath it, turns the pairs into a record of that event.
• Personal pairs. For a dining-out, the leaver's initials and years of service sit well alongside the shared unit design everyone else is wearing.

Each design is a separate pair, and the basket counts every pair across all of them.

Pricing for a mess, a squadron or an association

One to four pairs cost £40 each, shipping included, which suits a family gift or a small leaving present. From five pairs in total, every pair costs £15 and there is a single £5 shipping charge for the order. Five pairs come to £80, twenty to £305 and fifty to £755. A full-strength association dinner of eighty pairs would be £1,205.

There are no further tiers, and nothing to negotiate. The same £15 applies whether a committee orders six pairs or two hundred, and the pairs can be mixed freely: the same design fifty times, a different design for every company, or a combination of both.

That simplicity helps treasurers. Contributions can be collected at a fixed amount per head, and there are no surprises when the order is placed. Associations selling pairs to members at a reunion can set their price knowing exactly what each one cost. If a few members want a second pair for a relative, add those to the same basket before checkout and they are £15 as well.

How ordering works

Upload each design on the product page and the live preview shows it on both cufflinks straight away. Drag and zoom until the emblem or lettering sits exactly where you want it, add the pair to your basket, and repeat for any other designs. Then pay through the secure checkout.

Every pair is made in our Cornwall workshop, printed from your full-resolution original and placed in its own gift box. The whole order goes to one UK address, so the mess secretary or association organiser can check the set before the dinner and hand the pairs out in person. For larger orders it is worth nominating one member to collect names, check spellings and hold the permission paperwork, which keeps the order tidy and the evening free of last-minute worries.