Active 1976 – present Allegiance India Type Armour | Country India Branch Indian Army Size Regiment | |
85th Armoured Regiment, is an armoured regiment which is part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment was raised on 1 October 1976 by Lt Col D.P. Singh at Ahmednagar. It is an all India mixed-class regiment which was initially equipped with Vijayanta tanks. The first Colonel of the regiment was Maj Gen K.M. Dhody, AVSM.
The regiment took part in Operation Trident in 1987, in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and in Punjab during Operation Rakshak.
Cap badge
The regiment had initially deliberated on two patterns of cap badges:
In contravention to the practice of each regiment having a unique badge, the Army Headquarters proposed a common design for all armoured regiments raised post 1977. This was strongly opposed by all regiments. In the event, this design, proposed as the common badge, became the cap badge of the 85th Armoured Regiment.
The cap badge consists of a Vijayanta tank in silhouette surrounded by laurel leaves with a mailed fist or gauntlet at the top.