The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). It was formed in 1966 by the amalgamation of the three separate regiments of the Green Jackets Brigade:

·         1st Green Jackets, (43rd and 52nd)

·         2nd Green Jackets, The King's Royal Rifle Corps

·         3rd Green Jackets, The Rifle Brigade

Their motto was Celer et Audax (Latin: "Swift and Bold"). As they were used as shock troops and marksmen, they had to get to the front line of battle as fast as was possible; as a result the RGJ marches at 140 paces per minute (at a 15" pace) whereas other regiments march at just 120 (with an 18" stride).

As part of the 2004 restructuring of the infantry, the RGJ was scheduled to be largely unaffected - though the regiment had already been reduced to two Regular battalions in 1992. The regiment would have received a new Territorial Army battalion through the grouping together of the various RGJ companies of the Royal Rifle Volunteers and the London Regiment.

However, on 24 November 2005 it was announced that after discussions between The Light Infantry and the RGJ, the two would be merged together with the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry and Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry (RGBW) by the end of 2007 to form a single large regiment to be called The Rifles. The new regiment was to contain five Regular Battalions and two TA Battalions.