Victorian Crown 1921 ??

[Mike]

After finally splashing out on a copy of the "Military Badges of the British Empire 1914-18" (Reginald H.W. Cox) I finally ID'ed this item as a British Legion Standard bearers badge. Interesting to note the Victorian Crown, since the legion only came into existence in 1921 - so not suitable for dating in all cases! - wonder what the significance of the stamped number is H142?

[jeanpit-frenchy]

your badge is very nice ( i dont have this one ....:-) .....)

i have 4 badges of BRITISH LEGION 3 on 4 had identification numbers on the back side.
i think that it is for identification of the badge owner like for the badge "ON WAR SERVICE"

http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/OWS.html

the pictures of the back side of my badges of british légion (1 buton(no identification) , 2 standarts and 1 women british legion )

[Stanley_C_Jenkins]

Is the "Victorian Crown" effectively the same thing as the "Queen's Crown". If so, some units with links to a particular monarch retained a queen's crown after the accession of King George V - an example being the Oxfordshire Yeomanry (in this case the queen was Queen Adelaide).

[dragonz18]

Administrator,
I believe it is the person's Legion ID number here.
On NZ RSA badges it is the actual military sevice number that appears,making it easy to trace the seviceman's record of service. Not sure of which other Commonwealth countries followed this practise though.

Cheers !
Steve

[Legion Buff]

The badge that is displayed is a British Legion Standard Bearers beret badge. It is post 1952, as in that year it was decided that all British Legion Standard Bearers should wear black berets with the Legion Badge.

This avoided when lowering the standard a then rather complicated manoeuvre of having to remove the bowler hat that all Standard Bearers wore.

Now believe it or not the "H" stands for hat because this particular badge in one form or another has been used by British Legion Bandsman, British Legion Attendants and the very short lived British Legion Volunteer Police Force 15th October to 25th October 1938.

To find out more follow this link http://www.britishlegion-northstaffs...lice_force.htm

As to the Victorian Crown itself unfortunately is rather a mystery that has only recently been solved. The actual backplate was a mass produced one used by a number of other organisations as well the British Legion. The Legion despite getting a Royal Charter in 1925, it was not until 1971 a landmark year in the history of the Legion not only did it celebrate its 50th anniversary. But it was the year that the Queen had granted the Legion with the prefix 'Royal' in its title.

See 1938 British Legion Volunteer Police Force attached below

[Legion Buff]

Actually there are two numbers on the reverse of British Legion badges, firstly the Reg Design Number prefix RD and secondly the Membership Number of the Badge which can normally be found on the button hole mount.

[Mike]

many thanks for that legion buff, most interesting, and I'm delighted you found our site.!

[Legion Buff]

So am I, it could prove a useful find from a variety of interests!

[Legion Buff]

Originally Posted by jeanpit-frenchy

your badge is very nice ( i dont have this one ....:-) .....)

i have 4 badges of BRITISH LEGION 3 on 4 had identification numbers on the back side.
i think that it is for identification of the badge owner like for the badge "ON WAR SERVICE"

http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/OWS.html

the pictures of the back side of my badges of british légion (1 buton(no identification) , 2 standarts and 1 women british legion )

A quick visit to the Royal British Legion in North Staffordshire's On-Line Museum Badge Collection and you will see the many more badges there are!

[CEFWW1]

This has been a particularly interesting thread particularly the information about the British Legion Volunteer Police Force. I had certainly never heard of that "agency" prior to this story & I doubt many others had. Thanks.

Hugh

[engr9266]

DEAR ALL, There is an on going debate of the QVC badges and letter stamps.

I have been looking at a collection of BL/RBL cap/beret badges and noticed that there are 2 QVC badges for the BL women's service.

Before the introduction of the Beret for male standard bearers and the "Pillbox" style hat for females, I believe the men wore bowler hats BUT what did the lady's wear?? When did female standard bearers start?

So were the QVC badges worn only on caps by the Band's, commissionaires, attendants, BLVPF, etc? If so, where do the 2 QVC badges for the women's service come into it? Did the aforementioned groups have female members or were these badges made for "local" use by a branch or club?

We have had some talk about the Letter stamps on the back of badges and we have seen the following letters- A, B, G, H, (L), followed by numbers i.e. A1234.
Do we have a list of what the actual letters stand for?
I would have said that A is Associate, G for Gold, etc but would B be used for the band and H? Honorary? I have recently brought a QVC gilt badge with lug fixings that is stamped with H 560.

Is there a letter L for Life member or has any one seen any other stamped letters? Do we know if all the badge makers at the time brought these QVC backings and added their own Legion badge to it? I have only seen JR GAUNT London on any of these had only one's with a slider fixing.
Can anyone throw any light on this
Jerry

[engr9266]

If you want any more information on this and other Legion badges please go to The British Legion Memorabilia Collectors Club. This is a fledgling club that needs new members who are intrested in collecting BL/RBL memorabilia