Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Canadian Militia buttons. The short answer is that there were two types in existence. The long answer is below.

The first button used was the beaver in the centre button introduced with the 1856 pattern tunics. They were made in white metal and officers were silver gilt. They continued to be used with the introduction of the 1863 Pattern tunic, but interestingly enough, a late shipment of uniform in the 1860’s were provided with brass metal buttons of the same design. We do not have information yet why this was done, but the uniforms were manufactured in England and the contractor may have just decided to produce the buttons in brass.

In 1870 a new pattern of tunic was introduced (with a different cuff decoration) and the button was changed to the Victorian Crown in the centre. This type of button was also retained with the introduction of the 1876 Pattern tunic. In 1883, the wearing of silver metallic tape (lace) for officer’s uniform edging and for other ranks chevrons was changed to gold tape. At this time, all of the buttons went to brass for other ranks and gilt for the officers. So, basically:

Beaver Button: 1856-1870 in white metal and brass

Crown Button: 1870- 1901 in white metal and brass (brass only from 1883).

Considering that there is always overlap between introduction of new military uniform, it would not have been uncommon to see both patterns of button being used by the Canadian Militia.

Hope this helps,

Yours sincerely,
Eric Fernberg
Collections Manager, Dress & Insignia
Canadian War Museum