Army, published by the Army Historical Section, 1964) The letters VRI on the cap badge of The RCR stand for Victoria Regina Imperatrix, which is Latin for "Victoria, Queen and Empress". The right to wear the imperial cypher and crown was granted to the regiment by Queen Victoria in 1893. When a royal or imperial cypher forms part of the badge of a regiment it is normal for it to change with each succeeding sovereign. During the period 1901 to 1919, the officially authorized versions of the regiment's cap badge were those with Edward VII's and George V's cyphers, although the regiment continued to use the "VRI" ensigned badges throughout this time while petitioning for their formal return. In 1919, George V granted The Royal Canadian Regiment permission to wear "VRI" in perpetuity – a unique privilege. Company designations The companies of the battalions of The RCR are lettered sequentially across the regiment: 1st Battalion – A to F 2nd Battalion – G to L 3rd Battalion – M to R 4th Battalion – S, T and X (S Company consists of a company headquarters as well as two rifle platoons located in London, Ontario, and 3 Platoon located in Stratford, Ontario. T Company consists of a company headquarters located in Stratford, Ontario, and X Company consists of the battalion headquarters personnel.) In the Regular Force battalions, the first four companies are rifle companies, and the latter two are combat support (weapons) and administration company (combat service support). When on parade, companies parade in alphabetic order. Companies are normally addressed by the NATO phonetic alphabet for their designation letter with the following exceptions: A Coy, 1RCR, is designated and always referred to as "Duke of Edinburgh's Company" or, colloquially, "Duke's Company" C Coy, 1RCR, is known as "Charles" Company. This unique designation was adopted during the Korean War, as the company was noted for maintaining a very high standard of dress and deportment. M Coy, 3RCR, is often referred to as "Para" Company, short for Parachute Company, at the discretion of the commanding officer, although this title is not officially recognized by the regiment as other than a colloquial nickname, even as the 3rd Battalion is now airborne-capable Regimental bands Bugles and Drums The first band of The RCR was formed under "A" Company of the Infantry School Corps in 1894, when Sergeant Charles Hayes, a graduate of Kneller Hall