The Ontario Regiment, Canadian Army

THE ONTARIO REGIMENT, CANADIAN ARMY

(Badge)

(Guidon)

Official blazon

Badge: Gules on a bar a cat statant guardant irate Or, the whole within an annulus Gules fimbriated and inscribed with the motto FIDELIS ET PARATUS in letters Or and surmounted at the base by a bezant fimbriated and charged with a fillet saltire Sable the base quarter removed, and beneath the annulus a scroll Or with the words ONTARIO REGIMENT inscribed in letters Sable, and above, encircling the annulus, a wreath of nine maple leaves autumnally coloured, the centre one in chief ensigned by the Royal Crown proper.

Origin/meaning

The badge is based, in part, on the cat from the Clan MacGillivray familial crest, a member of which commanded the regiment in the early 1900s. After the First World War, the cat was designed into a fierce or fighting pose echoing the experience of the regiment's members in the war. The maple leaves, nine in total, reflect the nine provinces that contributed soldiers to the First World War battalions which the regiment perpetuates. The three quarters of a disc in the base of the badge represents the old regimental Militia number "34". "ONTARIO REGIMENT" is a form of the regimental title and "FIDELIS ET PARATUS" is the motto of the regiment. The Motto translates as "Faithful and ready".

The Blazon of the badge was confirmed by the Canadian Heraldric Authority on October 4, 2004.

Literature: Image from Wikimedia Commons.