It was at quite an early stage in trade union
history that those involved in the movement decided that a ‘badge’
of some kind would be useful. Ribbons, rosettes and medallions were
used in the mid nineteenth century but it was the 1890s before the
enamel badge became widely used. Some of the early badges were
issued as tokens for subscriptions paid with replacements being
issued each quarter and were often of the sew on type. Gold and
silver medallions, often designed to be worn on a watch chain were
produced by many unions to mark meritorious service or long
membership. However the enamel badge designed to be worn in the
lapel has been by far the most popular and widely used. Designed to
prove membership, denote office holders, mark conferences,
recognise long service or celebrate anniversaries in the history of
a union, many millions must have been produced and worn. This work
is an attempt to reproduce in pictures the badges of those unions
which are all historically a part, however small, of the modern
Amicus union.
Unfortunately a number of the smaller early
unions either did not produce a badge or if they did no known
examples are available to photograph. My grateful thanks go to
Terry Burns, Bernie Beagan and Peter Carter who all generously
allowed me to photograph badges in their collections.
Trevor Pritchard.
NB. The badge pictures in this work are not
necessarily to scale. Many of those photographed have been enlarged
to make it easier to view the inscriptions and the designs.
