1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse - Uniforms

Uniforms

The old 1st Lancers wore yellow uniforms (unique in the world) and the old 3rd wore blue. The "yellow" was actually close to mustard in shade but led to the regiment being nicknamed "Canaries" or "Yellow Boys" from its formation. Each regiment had the full-dress (mounted) long 'Kurta' worn with a turban and cummerbund, also a full-dress (dismounted) or levee, dress. These were not in general use after 1914 but could still be worn by officers on special assignments (e.g. as an aide-de-camp) or while attending court functions. The merged Skinner's Horse was assigned a dark blue full dress with yellow facings in 1922 but by 1931 the historic yellow and black had been restored. The mess jacket and waistcoat of the old 1st Bengal Lancers was adopted by the 1922 regiment of Skinner's Horse and was the cold weather mess dress until 1939. All six of these uniforms are in the collection of the National Army Museum.