The Royal Marines are one of those British institutions that defy easy description. They’re not the Army. They’re not quite the Navy. And yet, for more than three and a half centuries, they’ve shown up in almost every corner of the world where Britain has decided to plant a flag, rescue a friend, or pick a fight.
From storming French ports in the 1700s to yomping across the Falklands with 80-pound packs, from battling through Helmand’s dust to creeping up modern beaches with drones and fast boats, the Marines have made a habit of being exactly where the action is—usually wet, often cold, occasionally sober.
They’ve been known as “Bootnecks.”
They’ve earned the right to the title “Royal.”
And they’ve spent their long history quietly doing the jobs no-one else could—or wanted to.
This is a brief history of a Corps older than the United States, forged in confusion, tempered in war, and still evolving today.
Beginnings: A Regiment Born, Disbanded, Reborn, and Disbanded Again
The official story begins in 1755, when Parliament finally established a permanent Corps of Marines. But like much in British military history, the truth goes back further and is far messier.
The first recognisable Marines appeared in 1664, when the Duke of York raised the Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot—soldiers trained to fight on land and at sea. This was a revolutionary idea at the time. In an age when men either stood in tidy lines on battlefields or slid about on decks in tricorne hats, these early Marines did both.
The trouble was permanence. Seventeenth-century Britain wasn’t quite ready for a standing corps of sea soldiers. Parliament had the habit of raising Marines during wartime and disbanding them as soon as peace broke out. This made it difficult to build traditions, morale, or even orderly uniform fittings.
Yet despite their on-again, off-again status, the Marines kept proving their worth. Nowhere more so than in 1704 at Gibraltar. Alongside sailors and Dutch allies, they stormed the Rock and held it against ferocious Spanish and French counterattacks. One eyewitness wrote that the Marines “gained an immortal glory,” resisting an assault where Captain Fisher and just 17 men attempted to check 500 enemy grenadiers.
Gibraltar remains the Corps’ sole official battle honour—an acknowledgement of just how fundamental the action was to their identity.
By the mid-18th century, Britain had finally grasped the obvious: ships needed Marines not just during wars, but all the time. In 1755 an Act of Parliament created a permanent Corps under Admiralty control, with divisions at Plymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham. The uniforms were sharp, the drill was military, and the job description was simple: fight wherever the Navy took you.
They weren’t “Royal” yet—but the foundation was set.
Becoming ‘Royal’: Blue Facings and Global Wars
Through the Seven Years’ War and the global storms of the late 18th century, Marines appeared everywhere Britain floated a ship. They served as sharpshooters, boarding forces, landing parties, and garrison troops in far-flung corners of the expanding empire.
Then came 1802, a banner year. King George III, recognising their distinguished service, granted the title Royal Marines. Along with the honour came the traditional royal blue facings on their red coats—the visible sign of royal favour.
The Napoleonic Wars cemented their growing reputation. Marines fought in Egypt, the West Indies, India, the Mediterranean, and at Trafalgar in 1805, where they held the line during savage ship-to-ship boarding actions. They had become indispensable: too Army for the Navy, too Navy for the Army, but exactly what Britain needed.
By the end of that era, the Royal Marines had carved out their niche—not passengers with muskets, but professional fighters able to march through jungles, man ship’s guns, and storm beaches in the same week.
Victorian Graft: Red Marines, Blue Marines, and Endless Small Wars
After Waterloo, Europe went back to arguing over hats and railway gauges. The British Empire, meanwhile, stepped up its global admin duties—and the Marines went with it.
The 19th century wasn’t glamorous. No great set-piece victories, just constant deployments to wherever trouble flared. Crimea. China. India. New Zealand. Sudan. If the Navy showed up, a detachment of red-coated Marines probably fell in behind.
In 1855 the Corps split into two branches:
- Royal Marines Light Infantry (RMLI) — red coats, blue facings, infantry drill, boarding parties, and garrison duties.
- Royal Marines Artillery (RMA) — dark blue uniforms, big guns, and the technical expertise to man naval artillery.
Marine artillery units had technically existed since 1804—a necessity after an entertaining legal case in which a Royal Artillery officer refused naval orders, prompting the Admiralty to raise gunners who would listen to the Navy.
The two branches developed their own cultures. The RMLI were fleet-of-foot infantrymen; the RMA more technical, with a fondness for calculations and muzzle elevation.
The Corps may not have dominated the headlines, but it was everywhere Britain needed a disciplined force ready for anything.
World War I: From Antwerp to Zeebrugge
In 1914 the Royal Marines numbered around 18,000. By 1918 that figure had swelled to over 55,000. They were among the first British troops ashore in Belgium, helped defend Antwerp, fought as part of the Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, and served aboard warships across the globe.
The defining moment, however, came on St George’s Day, 1918: the Zeebrugge Raid.
Royal Marines and sailors stormed the heavily defended mole, rammed blockships into the harbour entrance, and fought hand-to-hand in a desperate attempt to bottle up German U-boats. Casualties were brutal. Heroism was plentiful. Two Marines—Captain Edward Bamford and Sergeant Norman Finch—earned the Victoria Cross.
Not all moments were glorious. After the war, Marines sent to Russia to battle the Bolsheviks found themselves undermanned, under-experienced, and exhausted. Elements of the 6th Battalion RMLI mutinied after unexpected casualties—a sad footnote but entirely understandable under the grim circumstances of 1919.
Post-war austerity forced change. In 1923, the RMLI and RMA were amalgamated, and the ranks of “private” and “gunner” replaced by a single, unifying title: marine.
World War II: The Commandos and the Green Beret
By 1940 Britain needed bold ideas. Churchill demanded raiders who could “set Europe ablaze,” and the Army raised the first Commandos—men trained to land quietly, blow something up loudly, and vanish.
The Royal Marines took one look and joined in enthusiastically.
In 1942, 40 Commando became the first Royal Marine Commando unit. Others soon followed—41, 42, 43 and more—trained at the brutally demanding Commando Basic Training Centre at Achnacarry House in Scotland. Here, would-be Commandos endured long marches, weapons training, rock climbing, live-fire exercises, and simulated assaults designed to break the unfit and harden the determined.
The Marines fought alongside Army Commandos in Italy, Normandy, the Adriatic and Burma, taking heavy losses and impossible objectives.
It was during this era that the now-iconic green beret became the symbol of a Commando—earned, never given.
After 1945 the Army disbanded its Commando units. The Royal Marines did not. Instead, they doubled down. From 1946 onward, becoming a Royal Marine meant becoming a Commando. The green beret became not just an award but an identity.
Britain now possessed something unique: a whole Corps of elite amphibious light infantry.
Cold War to the Falklands: Arctic Warriors and the Return to Amphibious Warfare
Britain shrank its empire after WWII, and Royal Marines often found themselves managing the mess. They fought in the Malayan Emergency, carried out the world’s first helicopter assault in Suez in 1956, and deployed to crises across the developing world.
By the 1970s the Cold War had focused the Corps. While NATO braced for tank battles in Germany, Royal Marines became masters of the environments others dreaded:
- Arctic training in Norway
- Jungle warfare in Belize
- Quick deployments to trouble spots worldwide
Then came 1982.
When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, 3 Commando Brigade formed the core of the British task force. After landing at San Carlos, Marines yompped across unforgiving terrain—56 miles in three days with 80-pound packs—before fighting bloody, determined battles at Mount Harriet, Two Sisters, and beyond.
They took casualties.
They took ground.
And they helped take back the Falklands.
The campaign proved that the Royal Marines remained the tip of Britain’s spear—high-skill, high-endurance, and utterly dependable.
Modern Royal Marines: The Future Commando Force
After the Falklands, the Corps didn’t slow down. They were first ashore in Iraq in 2003, capturing the al-Faw Peninsula. They deployed repeatedly to Afghanistan, swapping Arctic snow for desert heat.
Today the Royal Marines are organised around 3 Commando Brigade, a compact but formidable formation made up of specialised units:
- 40 Commando — high-readiness shock troops trained for rapid global deployment.
- 42 Commando — maritime security specialists, experts in boarding operations and helicopter-borne sniping.
- 45 Commando — Arctic warfare masters who train annually in Norway.
- 43 Commando — the Fleet Protection Group, guarding Britain’s nuclear deterrent at Faslane.
- 47 Commando — amphibious raiders operating landing craft, hovercraft, and fast boats.
- 30 Commando IX Group — reconnaissance, intelligence, and electronic warfare; the brigade’s “eyes and ears.”
Together, these units form the Future Commando Force—a lighter, faster, more technologically advanced version of the Corps. Think drones overhead, silent insertion from small craft, and teams striking from the sea with precision before fading back into the dark.
Per Mare, Per Terram still applies—but “by drone, by jet ski, and by whatever works on Tuesday” wouldn’t be far off.
Uniforms, Traditions, and the Great Globe
Like all British forces, the Royal Marines take their traditions seriously.
Their cap badge tells the entire story:
- The Globe — awarded in 1827 to represent service worldwide.
- Laurel Wreath — commemorating Belle Isle in 1761.
- Anchor — symbolising their naval heritage.
- Crown — marking Royal status.
- The Motto — Per Mare, Per Terram.
The Marines do not carry long lists of battle honours. With detachments scattered across the globe for centuries, choosing a handful of battles to inscribe would be impossible. Instead, they bear just one:
Gibraltar.
Everything else—Trafalgar, Zeebrugge, Normandy, the Falklands—is symbolised by the Great Globe itself.
Their traditions aren’t always solemn. The “bootneck” nickname harks back to the leather stock worn on their collars. The legendary yomp became part of Corps folklore after the Falklands. And there are older, more raucous customs—like the infamous “naked bar” or mess-night escapades in black dresses—that may not survive the smartphone era, for better or worse.
Still, uniforms, badges, jokes, and traditions all speak to the same identity: a Corps forged at sea, hardened on land, and proud of both.
What the Royal Marines Truly Are
So what exactly are the Royal Marines?
They’re not the Army.
They’re not quite the Navy.
They’re something else entirely.
Born in confusion, tested in wars from Gibraltar to Afghanistan, and reshaped again and again, they’ve spent more than 360 years marching in red, sailing in blue, fighting with bayonets, boarding ships, storming beaches, and yomping over mountains.
They’ve guarded nuclear warheads, climbed cliffs under fire, rammed blockships into enemy harbours, and performed helicopter assaults decades before anyone else thought to try it.
They’ve served everywhere.
They’ve adapted endlessly.
And they get on with their work quietly, professionally, and usually soaking wet.
If you’re looking for the quiet professionals—the green-lidded ghosts who arrive before the headlines and leave before the politicians turn up—you’re looking for the Royal Marines.
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