Royal British Legion & British Legion Lapel Badges
Welcome to the main British Legion
Lapel Badge page this is your gateway to a host of
interesting enamel badges. From a historical point of view you could first visit
our Related Badges pages where you will find fine examples of the four main
organisations that formed (National Association of Discharged Sailors and
Soldiers, National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and
Soldiers, Comrades of the Great War, and the Officers Association) The British Legion who represent discharged and
demobilised ex-servicemen and women from the Great War 1914-1918.
Since 2005 The Legion has had a Single Membership policy, which gives all its
members equal rights to participate in Branch, County and National
decision-making processes of the organisation. All other badges such as
Associate, have become obsolete and can be considered as part of the history of
The Legion.
Through
out the Collectors Club site can be found examples of The Royal British Legion,
British Legion, and Women's Section Lapel Badges. Amongst the collection here
the reader will find two prime examples of The Legion's highest awards
that can bestowed upon a member; 'The Royal British Legion
Badge in Gold', the National Certificate
of Appreciation Badge and the Women's Section
Golden Award their equivalent to the Badge in Gold .
National Certificate of Appreciation Badge
This
badge although of no intrinsic value being made of base metal actually
identifies the member as having been awarded the National Certificate of
Appreciation which is The Legion's highest award.
Cub Scout Badge
Try a visit to our Cub Scout page and see the extremely rare British Legion
Cubs badge.
Four Classes of Member
The 1937 Royal Charter Sixth Issue states that there are four classes of
membership; Ordinary, Life, Honorary and Women. Badges had to be purchased from
the Branch Secretary for One Shilling (refunded on retirement or expulsion from
the Legion).
Badge Size
In the British Legion Head Quarters Branch Price List February 1937 badges where
issued in two sizes Large and Miniature. Miniature badges either had a screw
back or a pin back. After WW2 at the 1946 25th Anniversary Conference the
members voted to replace all sizes of badge with the small one.
Thanks to a recent acquisition of a
British Legion Head Quarters Branch Price List Feb 1937
the club is at last able to establish a new designation of badge formerly called
small but is in fact miniature. These miniature badges where in issued up until
1946 when they where replaced by the small badge.
Officially Numbered
All badges where officially numbered although there are examples of
Honorary and some miniature badges that where not.
The design of the British Legion badge remains
the same there are some variations mainly in the format of the corporate lion
logo and off course the metal. The variation in badge manufacturers one would
assume is a question of economics and the best
price.
