History of the Scots Guards (1946–present)

The Scots Guards are a regiment of the British Army, renowned for their participation in ceremonial duties. These include events such as the beating retreat, the Changing of the Guard, the Queen's Birthday Parade, Remembrance Sunday, and state visits. The ceremonial uniforms of the Guards regiments differ minimally, distinguished by variations in tunic buttons, collar and shoulder badges, and the presence or absence of a plume on the bearskin. The Scots Guards' uniform features tunic buttons arranged in groups of three, the Order of the Thistle on the shoulder badge, a thistle emblem on the collar badge, and no plume on the bearskin.

During the latter half of the 20th century, the Scots Guards were deployed in conflicts linked to British colonial interests, including counterinsurgency operations in Malaya, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, and Uganda. In 1948, during the Malayan Emergency, the regiment was implicated in the Batang Kali massacre, in which 24 unarmed male civilians from a village near the Batang Kali River were executed. The victims were falsely alleged to be members of the Malayan National Liberation Army a communist insurgent group. The regiment was also involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old civilian in the back during the McBride incident in Northern Ireland.