Falkland Islands Police
 

To my mind this badge looks home made / doggy. I've seen several up for auction, not all of which were on e-bay.

Can anyone confirm if this badge is authentic and if so what period was this cap badge worn?:confused:

Yes, it is authentic. After the liberation the force had no badges in stock and no cash to order from a UK manufacturer. The quotes were sky high. The Chief Officer sent an original pre-invasion cap badge to a firm in Pakistan and ordered a stock of what were effectively "sand cast" badges. These were relatively inexpensive. These were worn by the small number of police staff for several years. They were also sold by the force to collectors. Following the granting of the "Royal" title, the current cap badge was supplied by manufacturers in the UK (Firmin). These were paid for using the sale proceeds of the "sand cast" badges.

Dave.

See the appended photo.

Dave.

Brilliant!!!
 

Thank you for the kind response in sharing your wealth of information and the great picture.

Great thread interesting.
A badge I would have dismissed as a copy.
Every days a school day. :)
Cheers Tony

Badges were probably ordered from Azam’s of Lahore Pakistan. The pink catalogue indicates that ‘anodised badges can be supplied at very low prices’.

Tim

Its not an anodised badge, but chrome plated metal. Solid cast backed and quite heavy.

Dave.

Indeed their main production was metal badges of all kinds including chrome plated. Here are a few pages from the catalogue. Some British Army band and corps of drums headdress badges were sourced from Azam’s.

Tim

Tim,

Thanks for the great information......Makes one wonder if Azam's & Sons are the source of many of the restrikes?

Drew

Dave,

Do you happen to have the index for the badges in the picture that you kindly sent.

Also, any info regarding the title "Falkland Constabulary" which I have seen, but never reference/addressed.

Drew

I've never seen any items bearing the name "Falkland Islands Constabulary". It was only post liberation that the force title appeared on badges. Prior to that, only the letters "FIP" appeared in the badge centre.

There are/were (apparently) no tunic buttons produced bearing the name of the force or other custom design identifying them as being from the FIP. Throughout their history, buttons have either been generic, depicting "Police Force" and a Crown,or simply depicting a Crown. Occasionally, buttons have been as worn by UK forces e.g. Metropolitan Police. Before and post invasion, clothing was supplied from Metpol. stocks in London and later from Devon & Cornwall Constabulary stocks. In this case the "Devon & Cornwall" collar badges were often left in situ and were worn in the FI.

I have the chronological dates for the badges somewhere and will give you these when I can find them.

Dave.

Herewith, the approximate chronology of the insignia shown the the previously posted photo:-

A. Helmet plate. 1878. In that year four(4) London Metropolitan police officers arrived in the FI. They came complete with uniforms and helmets bearing the badge shown. They also brought with them further uniform stocks to equip local FI men.

B. Cap badge. Post. 1903. This badge was also produced in white metal and chrome. It was also made with a QVC which was worn pre. 1903. The chrome KC version was worn up to approx. 1955.

C. Cap badge. 1955 - 1984. Post the liberation, there was only one FIP Constable serving and he continued to wear this cap badge. He was assisted by Officers who were seconded to the FI from UK police forces. Those seconded officers wore their own uniforms and badges.

D. Cap badge. 1984-1985. This badge was supplied by the FI Office in London. Some local officers had been recruited and were wearing the very scarce badge "C", some examples of which had been sourced from retired staff, but there were not enough to go around. Badge "D" was not popular, but replaced "C" to ensure a degree of uniformity.

E. Cap badge. 1985 - May 1993. A new Chief of Police was appointed and he arranged for the badge to be made in Pakistan. It being a cheaper option than having a badge made in the UK. A stock of 200 cap badges and 200 "FIP" shoulder badges were obtained. This was well in excess of the needs of the force and as a result examples were sold to collectors. A further supply of the cap badges were later ordered. These were of the same design but were marginally smaller. The "Royal" title was granted in 1992.

F. Cap badge. May 1993 to-date. The current cap badge manufactured in the UK.

I hope this is helpful.

Dave.

Dave,

Wow!!..... You are indeed a Guru - Thank you so much for sharing all of your "pearls of wisdom."

How did you come by all this wealth of information?

Humble Grasshopper!

Just simply collating and storing bits and pieces of info. over the years. Nothing more complicated than that!

Dave.