Under Prime Minister Colonel Sir John Kotelawala, the Government of Ceylon decided on the need to add armour to support infantry elements of the newly established regular army.

To this effect a cavalry arm was considered and the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron was established on 1 October 1955 under the command of Major D. S. Attygalle at the Echelon Barracks.

Squadron moved to Ridiyagama for training with British Army advisers from the Queen's Dragoons Guards received four British Ferret unturreted scout cars along with twenty BSA M20 with side cars that were armed with Bren light machine gun.

In 1958, the squadron was deployed to counter the communal riots and on 15 December 1958 it was expanded to a formation reconnaissance regiment with two recce squadrons and had increased its fleet with BSA M21 motorcycles, eight Ferret Mk II Scout Cars and two Daimler Armoured Cars.

The 1st Reconnaissance Regiment became allied to and inherited the traditions of Queen's Dragoons Guards and it became the Ceylon Armoured Corps.

It was deployed for counter-insurgency operations in Kurunegala and Anuradhapura districts under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Ranatunga during the 1971 Insurrection against the JVP.

Following the insurrection, the regiment deployed a saber squadron to provide security for the Criminal Justice Commission from 1973 to 1976.

With the escalation of the Sri Lankan civil war, three saber squadrons were deployed in the northern and eastern provinces of the country, to provide fire support for infantry and for the protection of road convoys.

Its expansion was limited since the Government of Sri Lanka face difficulties in precuring spares and new military equipment from its traditional suppliers in the United Kingdom and Singapore due to pressure from Western countries.

[1] Three saber squadrons from the two regiments were deployed for the first amphibious landings made by the army in Operation Balavegaya to break the siege on Elephant Pass.

In 1998, thirty three BTR-80 APCs and BTR-80 A IFVs were added to the 'A' vehicle fleet shared between the 1st, 3rd, 6th recce regiments and were used in Operation Jayasikurui.

In May 1998, the 7th Battalion, Sri Lanka National Guard was transferred as the SLAC as the 7th (Volunteer) Regiment in an infantry role.