Artist Rifles Badge

The 38th Middlesex (Artists) Rifle Volunteers was formed in 1860 by Edward Sterling, an art student. At first the regiment largely consisted of painters, sculptors, engravers, musicians, architects and actors. Its first commanders were the painters Henry Wyndham Phillips and Frederic Leighton.

The Artists Rifles was one of twenty-eight volunteer battalions in the London and Middlesex areas that combined to form the new London Regiment in April 1908.
The Artists’ Rifle Volunteers were disbanded in 1945, but was combined with other elements to form the 21st Regiment Special Air Service (Volunteers).