RCMP INSIGNIA RCMP badges
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Below - NWMP badge.
This NWMP badge is quite different from the 1973 and 1998 commemorative badges made for the 100th and 125th anniversaries -- pictured way below.
I'm happy to report that three current members of The Force who are collectors, have advised me that this is a genuine item. Thanks for the input!
ABOVE -- North West Mounted Police badge; obsolete since 1904. Note the first word in the motto did not use the letter "S" on the end during that time.
While it's always difficult to place a value on a collection or on any one particular item, an identical badge to the one pictured above - with the exact hallmark on the back - sold on ebay on September 24, 2011 for $1,375.
ABOVE -- reproduction of a North West Mounted Police sergeant's pouch badge in its presentation case
In case you can't read it --- The card that came with this badge says--This is to certify that this North West Mounted Police Sergeant's Pouch badge is one of one thousand reproduced to commemorate the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regina Senior Non-Commissioned Officer's Mess, 1882 - 1982. Badge Number MP 0874.
On the other side of this card, it says the foregoing in French.
ABOVE -- Old RCMP hat badge with King's Crown. Says Made in England on the back; used between approximately 1920 to 1953.
ABOVE -- RCMP collar dog with King's Crown to go with the above hat badge.
ABOVE -- the RCMP badge used from approximately 1954 to 1962. It used to be all brass colored, and you can really see the brass color on the back. But on the front, the electroplated brass color has mainly worn off except for some left on the bottom area. It is distinctly heavier than the similar badge pictured just below, and this one above has a certain metallic ring when it is lightly dropped on to a hard surface. The number of holes on each side of the center crest differs from the number of holes on each side of the badge pictured below.
ABOVE -- I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe the above RCMP badge was used between approximately 1963 to 1974. It is very light weight. It is likely the "staybrite" anodised aluminum/plastic. This one appears to be silver in color, both front and back. It has the Gaunt Birmingham mark on the back.
ABOVE - the RCMP collar dog matching the badge pictured just above this pic. Again - super lightweight, shiny silver color, Gaunt London mark on the silver back. Note the crown has no red in it. Unsure why the hat badge says Gaunt Birmingham, while the collar dogs say Gaunt London.
ABOVE -- RCMP current issue crown pin for officers. Still need these. Also need the crowns and pips that go on the fancy gold cord shoulder boards.
ABOVE -- old RCMP King's Crown pin.
ABOVE -- old RCMP Transport badge. Love the wheel. On Page 2 Patches, there is a pic of the Transport shoulder flash.
ABOVE -- older style RCMP hat badge. Older style, but still with a queen's crown, used from approximately 1974 to 1976.
ABOVE -- Royal North West Mounted Police badge - but is believed to be a reproduction. This style was used until 1920.
ABOVE -- RCMP hat badge used from approximately 1976 to 1979. Check out the shape of the crown - it is the same shape as the badge used from approximately 1974 to 1976 pictured two photos above. It is quite different from the shape of the crown on the other badges pictured below which also have red enamel in the crowns. When you see any green in the pic, note that it is a reflection from something in the room. There is no green on the badge.
ABOVE -- RCMP hat badge; current issue though used mainly from 1979 to 1993; the current style has a few variations, of which only collectors seem to care. Examples - the bison's beard is thicker on this one, and above the words Royal and above Police, there is less blue enamel in the ribbon. Check out the badge pictured just below.
ABOVE -- RCMP hat badge, and slightly different from the one pictured just above; also used from approximately 1979 to 1993.
ABOVE -- RCMP hat badge in use since 1994 or so. This one differs from the two badges pictured just above in that it appears to have a clear epoxy type coating over all of the blue enamel, giving it a glossy finish. The red color in the crown also has this finish. All 3 of the badges with this shaped red crown would likely be considered current style.
ABOVE -- 5 RCMP badges in a group photo -- for ease of comparison - All of these are pictured separately above.
TOP: The badge at Top Left has a bison whose beard is thinner than the badge at Top Center. The badge at Top Center has a darker shade of red in the crown. The Top Center badge also has less blue enamel on the ends of the scroll above the words, Royal and above Police.
The badge at Top Right is similar to the one at Top Center, but the badge at Top Right has a clear epoxy-type coating over all of the blue and red enamel, giving it a shiny appearance.
BOTTOM ROW: The badge at Left has no red in the crown and instead, has 2 holes (voids) in the crown. The badge at Bottom Right has a solid crown with the red added.
Note that the shape of the crowns in the Top row are similar to each other, but are very different from the shape of the crowns of the badges in the Bottom row.
ABOVE -- the RCMP Veterans Association badge-- but the top part of the crown is broken off. So I STILL NEED one of these with the full crown.
ABOVE -- 1982 anniversary badge set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of RCMP policing in Nova Scotia after the Nova Scotia Police was absorbed into the RCMP in 1932 - in the presentation case.
ABOVE -- an RCMP Officer's hat badge. Note how the center crest and bottom words are made of metal, while the leaves and border are made of metallic thread. I think this one is older than the officer's badge pictured just below.
ABOVE -- another RCMP Officer's hat badge. Note how the center crest and bottom words are made of metal, while the leaves and border are made of metallic thread.
ABOVE -- an old style RCMP Officer's hat badge. Note how the center crest is made of metal, while the leaves and border are made of metallic thread.
ABOVE -- an old style RCMP Officer's hat badge. Note how the center crest is made of metal, while the leaves and border are made of metallic thread.
ABOVE -- another RCMP old style officer's hat badge.
ABOVE -- medium sized RCMP blazer crest. STILL NEED the blazer crest from the Veterans Association.
ABOVE -- RCMP King's Crown, old officer's hat badge, Marine Section. Possibly from the 1930s.
ABOVE -- RCMP King's Crown, old style officer's hat badge.
ABOVE -- 6 RCMP officers' hat badges. I thought you would like one picture with several badges in the same picture, for ease of comparison. All are pictured previously. Again, the one at Bottom Right is newest and the one at Top Left with the King's Crown is the oldest.
ABOVE -- RCMP collar dog, current style. It's hard to tell, but there are 7 small holes on each side of the center crest. Contrast that to the collar dog pictured just below.
ABOVE -- current style collar dog. However, note that there are 5 holes on each side of the center crest. Collar dogs with 5 holes on each side are older than ones with 7 holes on each side. How much older, I can't say. It's a distinction that only collectors might care about. I merely bring this to your attention (for your amusement).
ABOVE -- 5 different RCMP collar dogs in one photo. The one at Top Right, formerly used by officers, is pictured by itself on Page 4, the Clothing page. The other 4 are pictured by themselves elsewhere on this Page. For the 2 at the Bottom -- the one on the Left has 7 holes on each side of the center crest while the one on the Right has 5 such holes. A distinction with a difference.
ABOVE -- RCMP Marine Section Chief Petty Officer hat badges; the one on the Right has a King's Crown.
ABOVE -- RCMP King's Crown, Marine Section Petty Officer hat badge; it really was red; from the 1930s.
ABOVE -- RCMP large bullion style badge patch. This measures 5 inches tall (12.7 cm) and 4 1/4 inches wide (10.8 cm) near the bottom.
ABOVE -- old RCMP crowns, pips etc. from around 1975. The crowns are larger than current issue crowns. The crowns are the super lightweight staybrite material and would not have been worn with the metal pips shown here.
TOP ROW: old style Commissioner, old style Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner.
BOTTOM ROW: Chief Superintendent, Superintendent, Inspector.
ABOVE -- closeup of the large RCMP crowns pictured above
BELOW -- closeup of an older style RCMP pip/gilt star pin. They say, Tria Juncta in Uno (Three Joined into One).
ABOVE -- LEFT - the older style RCMP pip; RIGHT - the newer style. As you can see, the newer style is slightly smaller.
BELOW -- Shows the relative size of 3 different RCMP crown pins plus the 2 pips.
TOP RIGHT -- current crown and has 2 pins on the back. 20 mm wide, 20 mm tall
TOP CENTER -- used at least 25 years ago and has 2 lugs on the back. 23 mm wide, 23 mm tall.
TOP LEFT -- used at least 20 years ago and is the light weight version; has 2 lugs on the back. 27 mm wide, 27 mm tall; shows some discoloration.
THE PIPS -- Left one (older style) is 22 mm square; RIGHT one is newer style and is 16 mm square.
ABOVE -- RCMP Shoulder boards -- Yellow Cadet is older style. Blue Cadet is believed to be current style.
STILL NEED the blue Cadet shoulder boards that have any stripe or stripes on them.
ABOVE -- RCMP Officers' shoulder boards, in use for many years. The shoulder board that is third from the RIGHT for the old Deputy Commissioner has no crown - this was the case years ago. You can see this on the 1982 poster published by the RCMP entitled, RCMP badges and insignia. Now, the Deputy Commissioner uses the one with the crown and the sword/baton-- second from the RIGHT, which was the prior insignia for the Commissioner.
ABOVE -- RCMP newer and more colorful version of the Officers' shoulder boards. Note that these are not duty-issued. The crowns and pips are made of thick thread, possibly metallic. The crowns and pips are so thick, giving it a 3 dimensional appearance, that from a distance they can be mistaken for metallic insignia. Note that the sword on the shoulder boards for the Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner, is silver -- a nice touch.
ABOVE -- a closeup of the RCMP shoulder board for Superintendent, to show detail.
ABOVE -- RCMP metal collar insignia for non-commissioned officers. These were adopted in 1974. I believe they were used until 1990.
TOP: Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant.
BOTTOM: 2 different versions for Staff Sergeant Major - oval and round - , Sergeant Major, Corps Sergeant Major.
Note that there is no metal collar insignia for the rank of Constable.
ABOVE -- a closeup of an older RCMP crown. Note the colors along the bottom. The current crowns don't have these colors. This one also has 2 lugs on the back instead of the 2 pins used now.
ABOVE -- Here are some RCMP shoulder title badges. STILL NEED one for the NWMP.
TOP - the oldest - the letters mean, Royal North West Mounted Police. The Force has not used this name since 1920. This one has the hallmark - the maker's mark - on the back.
ROW 2: RCMP - the one on the left has obviously seen more wear than the one on the right. The one on the right was on a coat for many decades, in storage, and looks brand new.
The older looking RCMP badge on the left has the hallmark on the back. There are also some RCMP shoulder titles that are wider than the RCMP ones shown above - and which I still need. I think they are as wide as the RNWMP one shown here and perhaps the reason they were wider, is that they are the ones that were used when the term RCMP came into use, so keeping them wider would allow their immediate use on coats.
ROW 3: The extra "R" meant "Reserve" and first came out in 1937.
BOTTOM: The GRC was added to shoulder insignia in 1974 and stands for the French words that mean RCMP - Gendarmerie royale du Canada. Since Canada has 2 official languages - French and English - the RCMP insignia is bilingual.
ABOVE -- An RCMP United Nations badge. This is also pictured and explained on the page for Patches. It is here because you're on the Badges page and I wanted to put it here again to picture all possible badges on the same page.
ABOVE -- RCMP epaulettes used on some United Nations missions. I heard that the RCMP used these epaulettes in order to make sure its Members with experience would be able to wear a rank insignia commensurate with that experience. For the pictured items, they show a rank of Lieutenant and would typically be worn by a Member whose RCMP rank was Sergeant. I have seen pictures of such insignia in use by RCMP Members.
ABOVE -- the RCMP 1998 set of reproductions of the 4 hat badges used, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Force.
STILL NEED the 1973 badge set which looks similar to this set, but is made by Gaunt. Still another set from 1973 was made with no enamel -- NEED that one, too.
ABOVE -- RCMP retired badge. This is believed to be unofficial. But the crest is highly detailed. STILL NEED one of these as well as a wallet badge. Wish me luck!