Cloth badge backings

[Luc]

Long overdue, a topic on badge backs that I promised to start a while ago.
There is much confusion about neat and sloppy embroidery when it comes to authenticate cloth badges. This topic does not give any rules of thumbs as there aren't any. My goal is to present a number of original insignia to compare to others.

I will show:
insignia that are covered with a layer of cloth (5 pictures)
glue back insignia (7 pictures)
padded insignia (7 pictures)
paper backed insignia (4 pictures)
insignia with neat embroidery to the rear (11 pictures)
insignia with sloppy/spaghetti embroidery to the rear (14 pictures)

May I kindly ask you not to post replies untill I have finished uploading all pictures.

First batch: insignia that are entirely covered with a layer of cloth. Often found on modern replicas but not immediately a bad sign.

[Luc]

Second batch: glue back or paste back insignia. Formation signs, qualification badges and shoulder titles can be found like this.

[Luc]

Last glue back.

[Luc]

Padded insignia.

[Luc]

Last of the padded.

[Luc]

Neatly embroidered badge backings, found on various types of insignia.

[Luc]

More of these.

[Luc]

Some inisgnia with sloppy embroidery.

[Luc]

Some more showing sloppy embroidery.

[Luc]

Last post. I hope these examples are of use.

[David Tremain]

Two things Luc - could you maybe turn these into an album> Second, when I was buying some Canadian cloth patches from a surplus store in Toronto the guy there told me that some had a "Wigan back". He did explain what he meant by that, but not having a note book I promptly forgot it. Is this something confimed to Canadian badges? Does anyone know? Bill A, maybe you have the answer. Thanks, David

[rockape560]

hi luc,

many thanks for the examples.
had a few cloth badges a few yrs back from an old soldier who had glued them to a piece of board and i was dubious about removeing them as i did not want to destroy them.
all cloth badges i got now are in albums with covered pages and held in by small ammounts of blu tac.
is there anyway of removeing old cloth badges thats been glued to a board or page without destroying the badge?
many thanks,
philip

[James Gilbert]

Very helpful showing. I don't see the 4 examples of paper-backed types.

[wright241]

Originally Posted by rockape560

hi luc,

many thanks for the examples.
had a few cloth badges a few yrs back from an old soldier who had glued them to a piece of board and i was dubious about removeing them as i did not want to destroy them.
all cloth badges i got now are in albums with covered pages and held in by small ammounts of blu tac.
is there anyway of removeing old cloth badges thats been glued to a board or page without destroying the badge?
many thanks,
philip

If the glue used is water based, a damp cloth - and I mean damp not wet... - may loosen it up after being in contact for a few hours . If it doesn't appear to be 'giving up', forget it. There are glue-release chemicals, but these are highly likely to affect the badge.

[rockape560]

hi 241

many thanks for the help,

philip