67th Armoured Regiment is an armoured regiment which is part of the Armoured Corps of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Formation

The regiment was raised on 15 September 1967 at Ahmednagar by Lieutenant Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Niranjan Singh Cheema (ex

Poona Horse The Poona Horse is an armoured regiment in the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment, known before independence as The Poona Horse (17th Queen Victoria's Own Cavalry), was raised as a regular cavalry regiment in the Bombay Presidency a ...

) and was equipped with the indigenous Vijayanta tanks - the first regiment to be raised with indigenous tanks. The Regiment has a fixed class composition as regards its sabre squadrons, with one squadron each of

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himachal ...

s and

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subse ...

s. Brigadier Karam Singh, AVSM, VrC was the first Colonel of the Regiment.

History

The Regiment bid farewell to the Vijayanta tanks in June 1984 and was converted to T-72 tanks. The Regiment has had the privilege of serving with distinction in all the three

armoured division A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. Historic ...

s of the Indian Army and a large number of other armoured/infantry formations including a high altitude tenure in

Leh Leh () ( lbj, ) is the joint capital and largest city of Ladakh, a union territory of India. Leh, located in the Leh district, was also the historical capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh, the seat of which was in the Leh Palace, the former res ...

. The regiment has participated in Operation Cactus Lily, Operation Trident, Operation Vijay,

Operation Rakshak Capt. Sanjay Chauhan, SC, was an Indian Army officer of the 16 Rajputana Rifles. During a military counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir, India, Captain Chauhan attempted to infiltrate an enemy militant group. On the basis of action ...

and

Operation Parakram Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. The Regiment has also contributed personnel for

United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...

operations and to the

Rashtriya Rifles The Rashtriya Rifles (RR; ) is a counter-insurgency force in India, formed in 1990, to specifically serve in the Jammu and Kashmir region. They also maintain public order by drawing powers from the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Po ...

for counter-insurgency duties. The Regiment with its

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...

tanks took part in the

Republic Day parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Rajpath, New Delhi. It is the main attraction of India's Republic ...

in 1992.

The Regiment celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1992 at Hissar and was the proud recipient of the "President's Standard" on 21 February 2014 at

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital of ...

in recognition of its dedicated service for over four decades. A formation of roaring tanks took part in the parade commanded by Colonel B Ravi, the 21st Commandant. The Army Chief General Bikram Singh bestowed the prestigious honour on behalf of the President Mr

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

upon the regiment for its meritorious service since its raising.

Heraldry

The first Regimental Flag hoisted on raising had three vertical stripes coloured 'Red', 'Black' and 'Canary Yellow' signifying the regimental motto at that time – "Through blood and darkness to the light beyond". The current Regiment Flag (as approved by Army HQ) has three vertical stripes coloured 'Black', 'Canary Yellow' and 'Black' with the Regiment badge in red colour embroidered in the centre stripe. The change in the colours led to a change in the Regiment Motto i.e., "Through darkness to the light beyond". The distinct and elegant Spearhead regimental badge was designed by Colonel CL Proudfoot. The Regiment is nicknamed ''The Spearhead'' because of the shape of badge and its pride in participation in major offensive exercises as the leading regiment of the armoured formations it then served in.

External links

ANI news video clip on the presentation of President's Standard

References

{{Indian Army Armoured Corps , state=expanded Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947 Military units and formations established in 1967