RAA LIAISON LETTER- 2025 – 2026 EDITION CANNONBALL SUPPLEMENT 133 Between 1920 and 1921 it was worn as the headdress and collar badge by all ranks of the permanent branch of the Royal Australian Artillery. Captain L.E.S. Barker MC, portrait photograph below. Australian Gunners have nurtured and retained the essence of the Cypher design over time because of a desire for an emblem that points to Australianness while also recognising a relationship with the Crown. The importance of the design and enduring nature of the badge has been recognised through an evolution in names used to identify it. In 1915 it was referred to as the ‘RAA Scroll’. In 1929 the Commandant 5th Military District referred to it as the ‘Regimental Crest’ of the RAA. In 1930 the RAA adopted the design of the Royal Artillery’s ‘gun badge’ as the RAA’s identifying Regimental Crest for its hat badge. Introduced into the Royal Artillery and many other Commonwealth Regiments of Artillery in 1902, our badge differs only in that the lower scrolls bore our regimental motto ‘CONSENSU STABILES’ and the title ‘AUSTRALIA’. The ‘gun badge’ became the widely recognised emblem of artillery and Gunners. Its adoption by other Commonwealth countries, in similar forms, spoke of the ‘One Regiment’ concept for interoperability and massing of artillery effects. But the importance of the RAA Cypher was not lost. Australian Gunners have nurtured and retained the essence of the Cypher design over time perhaps because of a desire for an emblem that points to Australianness while also recognising a relationship with the Crown. In 1930 it was a far-sighted decision to retain the RAA Cypher as the other-ranks collar badge, perpetuating its heritage value. Along the way changes have been made. Crowns have changed and the motto QUO FAS ET GLORIA DUCUNT was added in 1951, replacing the original CONSENSU STABILES. The badge which became known as the RAA Cypher was centrally mounted over the entrance archway to North Head Barracks for 60 years from its opening in early 1939 until its closure with the departure of the School of Artillery in late 1997.
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