Unusual British Legion badge

[Shiny]

Hi Terry,

It's basically a marketing thing. The one with the golf ball is usually left at golf clubs for people to buy, the rugby balls are left at rugby clubs.

The area I'm in has two clubs, one who wear red and one who wears white so we leave those colours at the respective clubs.

One of those local clubs has a lot of veterans and reservists as members and they often impose a fine of buying a round of drinks for any member who turns up not wearing one in their team colours and they ask for a slightly larger donation for their pins so they can collect a higher total. They are huge supporters and always collect a good amount for the appeal.

That being said there is a strong connection to rugby in the military over here, just look at this:

https://www.armynavymatch.org.uk/1/8...vy-rugby-match

Often refered to as the greatest military reunion.

There are sets of lots of different colours for the rugby balls, numerous different football (soccer) teams and then lots of special events or commemoration ones available.

Michael

[mike_vee]

As Michael has said , it is all about marketing/finance .

The RBL bring out numerous "special" pins , here are some from last year :


A slight change in design or date and people (especially collectors) will buy a new one each year.

Then there are the football (soccer) teams , the RAF Squadrons , the numerous military regiments/corps and you can see how big the "franchise" is becoming.


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[Home Guard]

Thank you Michael and Mike!!! I apologize for being so uneducated in such things, but I am learning! And, now I better understand he lovely pins I was sent! The Army/Navy Game sounds very much like our Army/Navy football game each year, only ours is a college event played between the two academies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army%E2%80%93Navy_Game

All I can say is - GO AIR FORCE (I'm an Air Force brat)

Terry

[mike_vee]

Originally Posted by Home Guard

All I can say is - GO AIR FORCE (I'm an Air Force brat)

Terry

PoppyShop has over 100 different RAF related poppy pins !

https://www.poppyshop.org.uk/collect...20Force&page=1


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[Home Guard]

Thanks Mike. My "Go Air Force" reference was to the Army/Navy game and the USAF Academy, since I grew up an AF brat. However, the Army/Navy game is older and more traditional and so gets more focus.

Terry

[mike_vee]

Just picked up this "variation" , post 1987 (?) but with no enamel.

This badge has been discussed before and the options were :
1. A 'variation' or specially produced badge.
2. A 'modified' badge that has had enamel removed (either damaged or to appear "rare").
3. A production/manufacturing error (enamel never applied).

Now that I have one to hand , I don't think the enamel has been deliberately removed. Too much work for a "common" badge and no one is asking high prices for them.

My first thought was manufacturing error but I would have assumed that the lion head is attached/glued on after the enamelling process , so badge would have failed quality assurance check.

It is possible it could be a prototype/trial 'variation' as there are some RBL badges/medals which have 'plain metal' and enamelled types available.

Any opinions ?

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[Home Guard]

Mike, I am definitely no expert of RBL pins, but one thing that I notice is the detail in the scrolls behind the lettering. I wouldn't think they would go to that much trouble if they were going to just cover it with enamel. So my thinking is that it's either a variation or test pin???

Terry