with crowned Union wreath surrounding silver circlet inscribed ‘LABOR OMNIA VINCIT’ with applied white metal ‘LRV’ cypher mounted with brass ‘3’ to centre, with three screw posts to rear.

The 3rd City of London Rifle Volunteers originated during the great expansion of the British Volunteer movement following the invasion scare of 1859. The journalist and writer Alfred Bate Richards raised a body of approximately 1,000 working men in the City of London, initially known as the Workmen's Volunteer Brigade. Being so composed, the unit was less socially exclusive than many of the other London Rifle Volunteer Corps. It received financial assistance from the City of London and the Livery Companies, while its motto, LABOR OMNIA VINCIT ('Work conquers all'), reflected both its origins and its identity. By the early 1870s, the 3rd London was one of the principal Volunteer regiments of the City, its principal function being the provision of a trained reserve for the defence of Britain, together with regular drill, musketry and field training.