British Legion Badges - Letters
 

While checking on something else I found an old (2008) post about the letters on some BL badges .

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...0&postcount=11

I don't know if Jerry ever managed to find an answer but here is a list based on badges I have.




A: Small (20mm) post 1945 BL badge with button hole fitting made by Gaunt (and sub contractors Jones & Jason/Ludlow/Roden).

A1: As above but only on Gaunt.

B: Bandsman , QVC with small (20mm) BL badge , Gaunt MM and B+number on slider.

C: Collar , seen on 'tablet' (C+number) attached to lugged badge. No makers mark.

D: Honorary , small (20mm) with button hole fitting. No makers mark.

F: Honorary , small (20mm) with vertical pin fitting. No makers mark.

G: Gold , small (20mm) members badge.

H: Hat , lugged QVC hat/beret badge with small (20mm) BL center. No makers mark.

K: British Legion For Merit badge (also on old lion RBL).

M: Miniature unvoided with screw post fitting.

P: Small (20mm) post 1945 BL badge with vertical pin fitting , Gaunt makers mark.

T: Tie pin , unvoided with no makers mark (possibly Gaunt as BM & Co voided tie pins and miniatures are marked).


Did BL Youth/Youth Club and Life Member badges have letters , I only have RBL versions ?

Anyone got/seen any other letters , your help would be appreciated.

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BL QVC Badges
 

There are a few threads/posts about these but there also appears to be some gaps in the details.

These badges have been worn by BLVPF (British Legion Volunteer Police Force) , Bandsmen , Standard Bearers and Car Parking/Attendants (including security/Commissionaires).

Large 26mm Lion

British Legion badges initially came in two sizes 26mm and a miniature 7mm x 9mm one. Gaunt had the contract from 1921-1928 then Birmingham Medal Company took over until the smaller 20mm size was introduced in 1945/1946 when Gaunt got the contract back.

The BLVPF badge has a long/thin/tapered slider but there is one version which is unmarked and another with (Reg.Design) 684409 stamped (curved) on slider. I have not seen any with a makers mark.

Q: The BLVPF badges were made in 1938 when the Birmingham Medal Company had the contract for BL badges , so why two different sliders ?

There is also another standard slider (unmarked) version which I assumed was for Bandsmen until I came across a 1937 British Legion Headquarters 'Price List' which includes separate prices for 'Standard Bearers' and 'Bandsmens Cap'. As the BLVPF badges were a one off 'special issue' they probably would not appear on any price list.

Q: As "most" Standard Bearers wore bowler hats what would the badge be for and was it the QVC version ?

I have not seen the 'Large Lion' on a lugged QVC badge , anyone got/seen one ?

NB. The price list is only for BL items , so I assume BLWS would have their own list. Also I can find no photographic evidence the female standard bearers ever wore a QVC badge.

Small 20mm Lion

The 20mm badge was introduced in 1945/1946 when Gaunt got the contract back.

Bandsman badge , standard slider with Gaunt makers mark + letter B and (member) number.

Bandmaster (?) badge , 'silver' with short slider , no makers mark.

Hat badge , lugged with letter H and (member) number , no makers mark.

Hat/Beret badge , lugged with no makers mark/letter/number.

Q: Were the badges with no letters simply "general issue" ones which could be worn by any of the groups ?

Womens Section QVC badge , although there are a couple of photos (front view only) of this badge I can find no information about it being an 'official' issue. The photos show the 'new' small 20mm badge (side arms rather than top scroll) which was introduced after a vote at the 1946 25th Anniversary Women's Section Conference.

Q: Was this simply a locally modified version of the QVC badge or is it a fantasy item made by a dealer ? (I have made one by replacing the 'male' center with the center of a female beret badge ;)).


So , more questions than answers , any contributions/suggestions are welcome and if I have made any errors please point them out.

Thank you.

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Hi Mike

Your great post reminded me to fire up my digital camera and post those pics I spoke of. Also not forgotten that you were after that lapel badge and have dug one out for you to look at!

Have found photos of both these badges :

Y:Small (20mm) British Legion Youth Club with horizontal pin fitting , Gaunt makers mark.

k: Small (22mm) British Legion Life Member (bottom scroll) with button hole fitting , Gaunt makers mark.

The letter K on 'Life Member' badge is different to the K found on the 'Merit' badges (have used lower case version to differentiate). :confused:

P.S I'm looking for an RBL Youth Club badge if anyone spots one. ;)
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British Legion Badges - Letters Update
 

F: Honorary , small (20mm) with horizontal pin fitting .Gaunt makers mark.

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Have now got a J.R Gaunt London version of this badge.

Also :

L: Post 1945 Gaunt cufflinks (Letter L plus 3 digit number on both cufflinks).


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British Legion QVC Badges
 

Was sorting out my QVC badges and decided to post a follow-up to my earlier post.

Top Row

1. 26mm BL badge with narrow tapered slider - no makers mark.
2. 26mm BL badge with narrow tapered slider - curved mark RD.684409
3. 26mm BL badge with narrow tapered slider - curved mark RD.684409

Row 2

1. 26mm BL badge with short normal slider - no makers mark.
2. 20mm BL badge with normal length slider - Large J.R. GAUNT LONDON (1 line)
3. 20mm BL badge with normal length slider - Small curved J.R GAUNT LONDON (2 lines) plus B 1046.

Row 3

1. 20mm BL Badge with short slider (silver coloured backing) - no makers mark.

Row 4

3 x 20mm BL badges with loops - no makers marks , H1373 , H1995 , H 2040. (H - reference letter for hat).

Row 5

2 x 20mm BL badges with loops , no makers marks or reference letter/numbers.

QVC badge with loops , post 1946 Gaunt Women's Section BL badge.*

*NOTE :This is a badge I made up from QVC backplate and WS beret badge. I have not seen an example of this badge (apart from an unclear photo) and wonder if it was a 'modification' or a fantasy item.

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Picked up this one , others I've seen have had the curved end section of 'slider' used as the 'tablet'.

Gaunt appear to have been the only manufacturer of BL badges that used 'prefix' letters , so that would roughly date the collar between 1946 and 1952 (when QC came in) but could be later as old stock would have been used until new design was available.

Have included photo (#4) to show difference in construction of earlier (1938) collar (as used by BLVPF).

PS. I have seen a couple of examples of 'collars' with a slider , any idea why they would have that type of fitting ? They would be too small for a cap/beret and wouldn't really be suitable for buttonholes . :confused:

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Another letter
 

This one I'm not sure about , it is on a Standard Bearer crossbelt/sling plate.(photos from an old thread)

So , does the "S" prefix inidcate 'Standard Bearer' or 'Sling' ? :confused:

Although the badges has no makers mark Gaunt started using letter prefixes post 1945 .

Q 1 - Was there a Women's Section version of this design or did they only have the 'shield' shaped ones ?

Q 2 - I've seen examples (in Phil's album) of the 'shield' version with the large (pre 1946) Lion head (Women's Section and plain scroll Men's one) but am confused by later Women's Section ones with small Lion head. New WS badge design was introduced in 1946.

I have two of the small Lion head WS shield ones ( screw post and one with N/S tangs) both with Gaunt London makers marks , was a version produced with the 'new' side arm Women's Section badge ?

Q 3 - Post 1971 there was a different shape (with side arm badge) , was there an earlier British Legion version without crown ?

Lots of questions , can anyone help out with information/opinions.

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Update !
 

I have previously thought that the 'B' prefix found on post 1946 QVC badges stood for Band/Bandsman but while checking on something else I came across this reference in a Branch record :

So now I think the 'B' prefix was introduced in 1952 to differentiate between the hat ('H') badges worn by bandsmen/parking etc and the Beret ('B') badges that were to be used by Standard Bearers.

NB: The use of prefix letters was introduced by Gaunt post 1946 and different letters were used to indicate the type of item (badge/pin/cufflinks etc) and also the various types of fitting (buttonhole/vertical pin/horizontal pin).

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