A Victorian Kaffrarian Rifles Badge - first type.

Established in East London in 1876 as the Buffalo Corps of Rifle Volunteers to serve in the 9th Frontier War, this unit dissolved in 1879. (East London's location on the Buffalo River inspired the name.)

Re-established in July 1883, the unit was named after Kaffraria, the 19th-century designation for the East London region. Descendants of numerous regional units, the Regiment shares lineage with entities such as the Kaffrarian Volunteer Corps, Kaffrarian Mounted Rifles (Kaffrarian Rangers), Buffalo Volunteer Rifles Corps, Buffalo Volunteer Engineers, Kaffrarian Volunteer Artillery Corps, Berlin Mounted Volunteers, Cape Mounted Yeomanry (1st Regiment), Frontier Mounted Riflemen (Brabant's Horse), and East London Volunteers (Von Linsignen's Buffalo Corps, and later Walkers Horse).

On December 1, 1900, George Herbert Farrar assumed the role of Major in the Kaffrarian Rifles. In 1913, it became part of the Citizen Force as the 5th Infantry (Kaffrarian Rifles) but reverted to its original name in 1932. Temporarily merging with the First City Regiment as the First City/The Kaffrarian Rifles from 1954 to 1956, the regiment adapted to the evolving political landscape in South Africa, leading to its renaming as the Buffalo Volunteer Rifles in 1999.

Having participated in all of South Africa's armed conflicts, including the Bechuanaland Campaign (1897), the Second Boer War, World War I (with involvement in German South-West Africa and subsequent service in East Africa and Europe), and World War II (engaging in the Western Desert from 1941 to 1943), this Regiment and its forerunners have a rich history.