Honourable Artillery Company

[IrishGunner]

The Honourable Artillery Company is an interesting organization, consisting of both artillery and infantry formations. The HAC was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII and is the second oldest military organization in the world after the Vatican's Swiss Guard. Today, it is both a charitable organization and a military unit in the UK's Territorial Army.

Here is a cigarette silk - Godfrey Phillips Territorial Badges issued in 1913; showing the HAC's infantry grenade cap badge.

[Joe Sweeney]

Actually its a bit of a controversy about which units are the oldest.

All of these are still current and fairly large with multi Battalions:

King's Own Immemorial Regiment of Spain, formed in 1248.

The French 1st régiment d'infanterie de ligne, created from the ancient "bandes de Picardie" first established in 1479.

Swedish Life Guards formed in 1521.

I think more claim ancient lineage too.

Joe Sweeney

[Dave Wilkinson]

Its always fraught with danger to assert that an organisation is the oldest or second oldest in the world. Someone will always come out of the woodwork and challenge it. Such is life.............

Dave.