In 1822, the gothic hilted sword with the Royal cypher of the reigning monarch was introduced for infantry officers. This was the 1822 Pattern Infantry Officer’s sword. The hilt looks very similar to the 1854 pattern because this pattern is an evolution of the 1822 pattern. The 1822 Pattern also had a pipe-back blade (meaning a thick rounded rod of metal ran down the back of the blade to give it strength for the thrust). It appeared initially with the royal cypher of King George IV, then William IV and finally Queen Victoria.
In 1845 the blade was changed and a newly designed blade was introduced by Henry Wilkinson of the Wilkinson Sword Company (Wilkinson just went out of business in the early 2000s). The 1822 now became known as the 1822/45.
In 1854 the design was updated once more. This would be known as the 1854 pattern Infantry Officer’s sword. It retained the Wilkinson-style blade but removed the folding inner guard.
