[Dave Love]

Hi, Dave Love here. In my collection, I have several badges that are essentially identical to the regular military dress chaplain badge, except they do have different colours of enamel. The regular military pattern has dark blue enamel, but I also have examples with yellow, green, orange, two shades of red and maroon/wine coloured enamels. They are exremely attractive and eye-catching. However, nowhere in my collecting have I found any reference or explanation to these different colours of enamel, officially or otherwise. They appear on ebay and other sale sites reasonably regularly so they are probably not single anomalies. While none of them show manufacturers' marks, the fact that they are essentially of identical construction other than the enamel colour suggests some connection with military chaplains. I don't have an answer for you but I have thought for some time now that these may relate to the masonic order and specifically to the Knights Templar. The Knights use other items in their regalia that are very close to military chaplain insignia and they share the same motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces". This is understandable because the original Knights Templar and military chaplains do share certain commonalities between their respective histories.