A tale of two badges.
 

In 2008 a project was started to build/refurbish a steam engine "The Unkown Warrior" , in 2009 a meeting was held with Royal British Legion Director of Corporate Communications who told them " the Legion could not support the Project financially, but endorsed our aims and said that we could use the Legion crest."

In June 2016, Simon Weston, CBE, the Falklands War Veteran, became the first Patron of the LMS-Patriot Project.

So far so good.

Forward to 2017 , the Head of the Legion’s Board of Trustees, wrote to say that they had been unaware of the decisions taken in 2009 by the then Director of Corporate Communications and that he was not authorised to make them without consulting his Board and had not made the Board aware of what he had done. He asked that they no longer claim the Legion’s endorsement and stop using the crest.

The nameplate for the train and any merchandising material (badges etc) had to be removed and could not be sold. A new nameplate and crest/badge were produced.

I have managed to get a hold of both the old and new badges (and a magnet) and think the original one was much more appropriate to use.

I personally feel this is yet another case of The Royal British Legion cutting of its nose to spite its face , getting rid of fakes/counterfeit items is great but punishing worthwhile causes is stupid.

Rant over :mad:

A case of "Rules is Rules", self important people jealously guarding their own power base or something more complicated?
A simple, sensible business decision?
I don't know,.just thinking out loud.

Does the engine have its own charitable status? Most charities aren't allowed support other charities.

Rob

If the authority of the RBL to use its name & crest was obtained in writing, then their later withdrawal of that authority makes them liable for any cost incurred as a result of their subsequent withdrawal. It seems to me that the trustees (or whoever) have simply rolled over and accepted the situation. Its probably too late now to do anything. But, on the face of it someone somewhere has been negligent.

Dave.

I think it is a separate charity, they are collecting donations for the build, if you went to see it and decided to make a donation, some people who saw the British Legion emblem would think that's where the money would end up.

Rob

Appreciate the different viewpoints , my feeling is that there have been numerous trains carrying British Legion/Royal British Legion nameplates including a Virgin Rail and a First Great Western one.

Do the people who see/travel on these assume that any profits are going to the RBL ?

I fully understand that the RBL is basically a profit making business but now even people who were donating a percentage of what they made (under licence) are no longer able to do so due to copywrite policy.

Update
 

I just got a copy of the book about the "Unknown Warrior" project , it was published in 2011 and it shows that those involved genuinely believed they were doing the right thing and had the 'blessing' of the RBL.

"In January 2009 , the group held successful talks with Stuart Gendall , the then Director of Corporate Communications , at the Royal British Legion. The LMS-Patriot Project obtained endorsement from the Royal British Legion."

In November 2009 a dedication service was held , with a speech by RBL representative and an RBL bugler played "The last post" as the nameplate was revealed.

I wonder if , at some point in the distant future, a photo of the "RBL Unknown Warrior" badge will appear on some forum and the book will be quoted to authenticate the badge. :D

Update
 

I got the original green RBL "Unknown Warrior" badge and a red fridge magnet three year ago , today on eBay I spotted (and snapped up !) a red version of the badge .

As the actual nameplate they unveiled was green I wonder if the red design was an alternate option , when they had to remove the RBL logo the new nameplate had the red background. :confused:

A clip showing the RBL unveiling the "original" nameplate :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDZz45FRtdk

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