In 1793, shortly before Britain became involved in the French Revolutionary Wars, the army consisted of three regiments of Household Cavalry, 27 line regiments of cavalry, seven battalions in three regiments of Foot Guards and 81 battalions in 77 numbered regiments of line infantry, with two colonial corps (one in New South Wales and one in Canada).

Following the battle a Waterloo Medal was issued to all soldiers who participated in that engagement.Regimental buttons are worn; for most units, these are of gold colour, with black buttons worn by The Rifles, Royal Gurkha Rifles and Royal Army Chaplains Department, silver by the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment, Honourable Artillery Company and Small Arms School Corps and bronze by the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

Under Moore, this change of role was accompanied by a change in the methods of training and discipline, encouraging initiative and replacing punishment for minor infractions with a system of rewards for good conduct. On "informal parades" officers in Nos 2 or 6 dress may wear a peaked khaki cap (which may also be worn with Nos 4, 7, 12, 13 and 14 dress); this item is not generally issued to other ranks (who would wear the beret or equivalent on these occasions) except those in HCMR and King's Troop RHA. In 1938, the British Army adopted a revolutionary and practical type of uniform for combat known as Battledress; it was widely copied and adapted by armies around the world. The early use of camouflage in the form of plain khaki reflected the exigencies of colonial war and the freedom allowed, and taken, by many of the officers who fought it. Generally, this was in the form of specific regimental badges, or ornamentation for specialised flank companies, but occasionally major differences existed.The standard weapon of the British infantry was the "India Pattern" version of the Brown Bess musket.

After the Crimean War a lighter shako, after the French style of the period, was introduced, and in 1868 the last model of British shako: smaller and tilted a little more to the front, was introduced. In this work, created in 1894, the appearance of the British Army with all the arms and important regiments who participated in this famous Battle of Waterloo in 1815 are displayed on 75 panels.In jungle conditions, the helmet is usually substituted by an MTP bush hat – or equally, in cold conditions, an MTP peaked hat (Cap, Extreme Cold Weather), a rolled woollen tube known as a cap comforter, or other specialized headgear. Earlier in the day, in what marks a historic change in the history of one of the Batteries from the Regiment – 4/73 (Sphinx) Battery, the traditional dark blue beret of the Royal Artillery was replaced with a khaki-coloured beret.