Stable belt

The Australian Army adopted the stable belt in the late 1970s. They were removed from service in 1995,[2] but were reintroduced in 2017.[3]

Firefighters Corps of Paraná - 1923.

Brazilian Firefighters Cadets - 2009.

In Brazil this belt is designated like gymnastic belt (Portuguese: cinto ginástico). It is one of the most traditional items of the uniforms of the Military Firefighters Corps; which is used with few modifications, since 1887.[4] At first it was rather reinforced, made of cotton and leather, to serve as climbing harness. Today it is mild and only serves as a ceremonial item.

There are only two models of belts:

For Officers:

The belt has a horizontal strip in blue colour, with the buckles in silver metal. In the 1960s the leather parts were painted with white colour.

For Soldiers (Sergeant, Corporal, and Private):

The belt is in red colour, with the buckles in gold metal.

The Danish Army, Home Guard, and Air Force all use stable belts. The Danish Defense's close cooperation with the British Army of the Rhine in the 1950s created the interest in a similar belt, for the Guard Hussar Regiment, which was introduced in 1968.[5] In the late 70s, it was decided to allow Stable belts for all regiments in Denmark. The design of the belt would be based on the colours of the regiment, and a colour to signify their role. To show the transition between role and regiment colours, a thin line was introduced, there is however no system with these.[6][7]

• Red: Combat troops
• Blue: Signal troops
• Gray: HMAK

The Danish armed forces have had a total of 43 different stable belts, today there are only around sixteen in use. Only the standard black stable belt is issued, other belts have to be purchased individually, so are neither regulation nor compulsory.[8]

Lebanese firefighters (الدفاع المدني, i.e. "Civil Defense") use the same type of gymnastic belt as used by firefighters in Brazil.

The various Corps and Regiments of the New Zealand Army wear stable belts.

Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment;

Personnel of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, with the exception of those serving in Territorial Force battalion groups, wear the regimental belt of the Durham Light Infantry, being rifle green with two thin red stripes. The belt was adopted as the RNZIR Corps belt in 1970. The Durham Light Infantry regimental belt was given to the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment when it relieved the 1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry at Sarawak, Borneo in May 1966.

Canterbury, and Nelson-Marlborough and West Coast Regiment;

Rifle green, derived from the light British Light Infantry

Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly's Own) and Northland Regiment;

Two sets of thin Red and White stripes on a Black background, adopted in 1995. Originally the belt consisted of three even sized stripes of Red, Black and White and were based on the Regiment's colours.

Otago and Southland Regiment;

The Otago and Southland Regimental belt is that of Queen’s Own Highlanders, and is the pattern of the McKenzie tartan.

Wellington West Coast and Taranaki Regiment;

Two separate belts are worn; officers and warrant officers wear a black belt with central stripes of red, green, yellow, mauve, and red, while soldiers below the rank of warrant officer wear a black belt with central stripes of yellow, red, green, and mauve. The belts adopted in 1973 were based on the Royal Hampshire Regiment with colours stemming from the regimental colours and the colours of the lace and facings on the uniforms of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment.

Hauraki Regiment;

Thames blue with a gold strip in the middle, derived from the old Royal Warwickshire Regiment which in turn is derived from the old 6th Regiment of Foot. The 6th Foot were once charged with guarding the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London; hence the blue of the belt represents the Thames river and the Gold stripe, the Crown Jewels.[9] The belt was introduced in 1975 and has a buckle in worn centre which has the Regiments badge mounted.

Wellington (City of Wellington's Own) and Hawke's Bay Regiment;

The 7th Wellington (City of Wellington’s Own) and Hawke’s Bay Battalion Group inherited the York and Lancaster Regiment stable belt. The belt is composed of maroon bands at the top and bottom (16mm wide), with a centre stripe of black (18mm wide) with a silver stripe above and gold stripe (each 6mm wide) below the centre strip. The York and Lancaster Regiment was allied to the Wellington Regiment in 1913 in recognition of the York and Lancs (65th of Foot) 19 year participation in the New Zealand Wars.

New Zealand Special Air Service;

Originates from belt worn by the British Special Air Service. It was first worn in 1965 by 1 Detachment, 1 Ranger Squadron NZSAS. The colours originate from a concept by David Stirling integrating the Oxford Blue and Cambridge Blue.[10]

Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles;

The QAMR belt is Black with a central Amber stripe as used by the original Queen Alexandra’s Mounted Rifles, they are also the colours of the Taranaki, where the unit’s foundations were laid in the early 1860s.

Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment;

The Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment Stable belt is Blue with a silver buckle displaying the Regiment Badge surrounded by the Regimental Motto "Ma Nga Hua Tu-Tangata" "By our actions we are known".

Royal Observer Corps, Disbanded.

Royal Navy officer wearing a blue stable belt, 2020

A stable belt is a wide webbing belt, usually a single solid colour or horizontally striped in two or more different colours. It is worn around the waist and when worn with PCS it is worn through the trouser belt loops. In the British Army or Royal Marines, when worn with barrack dress, the belt is placed either in the belt loops of trousers or a skirt or over a jersey. In the Royal Air Force, it is worn with service working dress (No. 2 dress) either covering the top of the trousers (or skirt) and the lower part of the shirt or through the belt loops if they have been specially designed to accommodate the belt's width. Unlike the Army, it is never worn over a jersey. The original cavalry stable belts buckled at the side to avoid chafing the soldier's stomach as he bent down during stable work and also to avoid marking or catching on the horse harness, but many stable belts are now clipped at the front, sometimes behind a metal belt plate (usually bearing the badge of the regiment), although a few regiments such as the Light Infantry clip their stable belts at the front with the original two leather straps. A large number of units, however, continue to use the traditional method of securing the belt using two leather straps and metal buckles at the left-hand side.

Today, every regiment and corps of the British Army has its own stable belt, often very colourful. The Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force also have their own, until recently the Royal Navy rarely wore stable belts, unless working in a tri-service environment, they are now issued as a standard piece of uniform with the new Royal Navy Uniform RNPCS replacing the old No. 4s. Stable belts are worn with most styles of informal dress, but not with full dress, service dress or mess dress. Stable belts for Soldiers are purchased by individual service personnel, not issued, so are theoretically neither regulation nor compulsory but since most people own one they are effectively uniform items in the Army.

Note that these belts are shown in cross section, the stripes actually being horizontal as worn, and are actually considerably wider than shown, although the stripes are shown in correct proportion. Where belts are asymmetrical, the left-hand side of the illustration is the uppermost as worn.

Infantry regiments

Foot Guards		Royal Regiment of Scotland		Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
Duke of Lancaster's Regiment		Royal Regiment of Fusiliers		Royal Anglian Regiment
Yorkshire Regiment		Mercian Regiment		Royal Welsh
Royal Irish Regiment		The Parachute Regiment		Royal Gurkha Rifles
The Rifles		Special Air Service		Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Cadet units

Sea Cadet Corps Royal Navy Section, Combined Cadet Force		Sea Cadet Corps (Royal Marines) Royal Marines Section, Combined Cadet Force		Army Section, Combined Cadet Force
Army Cadet Force		Air Training Corps RAF Section, Combined Cadet Force		Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets

Former infantry regiments

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders		Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment		Black Watch
Border Regiment		The Buffs		The Cameronians
				Douglas Tartan
Cheshire Regiment		Devonshire and Dorset Regiment		Devonshire Regiment
Dorset Regiment		Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry		7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles
Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment		Duke of Wellington's Regiment		Durham Light Infantry[37]
1st East Anglian Regiment		2nd East Anglian Regiment		3rd East Anglian Regiment
East Lancashire Regiment		East Surrey Regiment		East Yorkshire Regiment
Essex Regiment		Gloucestershire Regiment		Gordon Highlanders
				Gordon Tartan
Green Howards		The Highlanders		Highland Light Infantry
		Gordon Tartan
2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles		King's Own Royal Border Regiment		King's Own Royal Regiment
King's Own Scottish Borderers		King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry		King's Regiment
Leslie Tartan
King's Regiment (Liverpool)		King's Royal Rifle Corps		King's Shropshire Light Infantry
Lancashire Fusiliers		Lancashire Regiment		The Light Infantry
Loyal Regiment		Manchester Regiment		Middlesex Regiment
Northamptonshire Regiment		North Staffordshire Regiment		Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire		10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles		6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles
Queen's Lancashire Regiment		Queen's Own Buffs		Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Queen's Own Highlanders		Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment		Queen's Regiment
MacKenzie Tartan
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)		Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment		The Rifle Brigade
Royal Berkshire Regiment		Royal Fusiliers		Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
Royal Green Jackets		Royal Hampshire Regiment		Royal Highland Fusiliers
				MacKenzie Tartan
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers		Royal Irish Fusiliers		Royal Irish Rangers
Royal Leicestershire Regiment		Royal Lincolnshire Regiment		Royal Norfolk Regiment
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers		Royal Regiment of Wales		Royal Scots
				Hunting Stewart Tartan
Royal Scots Fusiliers		Royal Sussex Regiment		Royal Ulster Rifles
Green Erskine Tartan
Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers		Royal Welch Fusiliers		Seaforth Highlanders
Sherwood Foresters		Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry		Somerset Light Infantry
South Lancashire Regiment		South Staffordshire Regiment		South Wales Borderers
Staffordshire Regiment		Suffolk Regiment		Ulster Defence Regiment
Welch Regiment		West Yorkshire Regiment		Wiltshire Regiment
Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment		Worcestershire Regiment		York and Lancaster Regiment