Part of a display in the Australian Army Museum at Townsville's Jezzine Barracks which explains the background to the attachment of distinctive emu feathers on slouch hats worn by Australian Light Horse Regiments .
Slouch hats were first adorned with emu feathers by the Queensland Mounted Infantry in l891 .They were officially allowed to wear the plume as a mark of distinction for the first time while on active service in the Boer War in South Africa.
The plume was used to identify the Queensland Regiment among the British forces.
In 1915 all Australian LIght Horse Regiments became eligible to wear the plume.
(Army. Museum . Emus.)
