Here's a bit of a diversion for the cap badge collectors amongst us. I was initially thinking just of British badges but then figured that misguided design ideas and simple lack of due consideration have no national boundaries so come one and all from any nation or uniformed force. Lets see your nominations for the badges that you would only have in a collection merely for completeness!
Cap badge design has long been at the centre of esprit de corps in any unit and represents unit identity and pride in the Regiment and its' history etc. As such the design is crucial in representing the wearers unit. Therefore historical symbolism, seniority of the unit within the force and a measure of diplomatic consideration are crucial.
Amongst British designs there have been some that just had to be changed such as those bearing Prussian / German symbols at the time of WWI. Some that were simply disdained by the troops and died for that reason (The Manchester Regiment in WWI wore what was derided as "the bus conductors badge" because it was basically the same badge, the City of Manchester coat of arms, as worn by tram drivers etc) and others that came about through amalgamations of regiments at certain points in their history. These badges have to take into account the history, seniority and associated symbols of the component units. I doubt this is too different from any similar force worldwide.
My nomination comes from the amalgamation of The Gloucester Regiment (think of the battles of Alexandria 1801 and Imjin River 1951) with The Duke of Edinburghs' Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) itself an amalgam of the Royal Berkshire Regt and The Wiltshire Regt (think Battle of Carrickfergus 1760 and Mons and Ypres in WWI) which entailed a huge amount of proud history to account for. But, this what the intelligensia at MoD came up with. Yes it bears the Sphinx to represent service in Egypt and the Cross Pattee, which is heraldrically speaking what an Iron Cross is but the resulting badge in execution is actually laughable in its' ugliness and crude presentation. The size of it is large enough to compound the awful impression of something you would expect to see on an Action Man doll or a fancy dress costume.
Thankfully it was short lived as a further amalgamation saw the RGBW become part of one of the new "super regiments" with seven battalions named The Rifles who wear the famous stringed bugle of "Light Infantry".
So, let's see what other monstrous designs are lurking out there!
PS This badge is so unappealing that I just couldn't be bothered to photograph the one I have (for completeness) so I lifted this image of Ebay and the image is poor enough to actually make the badge look slightly better
Regards
Mark
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