The Light Division is a light infantry division of the British Army. It was reformed in 2022, as part of Future Soldier reforms.

Its origins lay in "Light Companies" formed during the late 18th century, to move at speed over inhospitable terrain and protect a main force with skirmishing tactics. These units took advantage of then-new technology in the form of rifles, which allowed them to emphasise marksmanship, and were tasked primarily with disrupting and harassing enemy forces in skirmishes before the main forces clashed.

Formed in 1803, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Light Division was raised thereafter: during the Crimean War, the First World War, from 1968 to 2007, and from 2022 to the present day. Some light infantry units remained and remain outside of the Light Division.

The British Army's first three "Rifle Battalion" was raised by the 60th (Royal Americans) in 1797–99. The command of this first rifle battalion was given to Francis de Rottenburg, who had extensive experience with light infantry. While the 60th did not officially become part of the Light Division, it and Rottenburg were influential in terms of British Army doctrine regarding rifle-armed light infantry.

In 1800, an "Experimental Corps of Riflemen", was raised by Colonel Coote Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. William Stewart – drawn from officers and other ranks from drafts of a variety of British regiments. The corps differed in several regards from the Line infantry of the British Army. Most significantly, it was armed with the formidable Baker rifle, which was more accurate and of longer range than the musket, although it took longer to load. As the rifle was shorter than the musket, it was issued with a 21-inch sword bayonet. Riflemen wore dark green jackets rather than the bright red coats of the British line infantry regiments of that time; pantaloons, rather than breeches; black leather facings and belts rather than white and; a green plume on their "stovepipe shakoes". They were trained to work alone or in pairs, in open order and to think for themselves.

Four months after its formation, the Rifle Corps was judged ready for its first operation. On 25 August 1800, three companies, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Stewart, spearheaded a British amphibious landing at Ferrol, Spain, where the Rifles helped to dislodge the Spanish defenders on the heights. However the expedition was defeated and withdrew the following day. In 1801, one company of the corps, under the command of Captain Sidney Beckwith, served as marksmen aboard Royal Navy ships at the First Battle of Copenhagen. During the battle, the Rifle Corps suffered one lieutenant killed, its first officer to fall, and two other ranks killed and six wounded, some of whom died later. (In 1847 the Admiralty made the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Copenhagen 1801" claimable by surviving veterans, including members of the Rifle Corps.)

In January 1803, the corps became an established regular regiment and was renamed the 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles).

On 17 July 1803, an unofficial "Corps of Light Infantry" was formed, by brigading together the