Editing Badge

{{Short description|Physical or digital insignia indicating membership, rank or accomplishment}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2024}}
{{Other uses}}
[[Image:Badge 1012.jpg|thumb|[[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department]] badge]]
A '''badge''' is a device or accessory, often containing the [[insignia]] of an [[organization]], which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fire), a sign of legitimate employment or student status, or as a simple means of identification. They are also used in advertising, publicity, and for branding purposes.

Badges can be made from [[metal]], [[plastic]], [[leather]], [[textile]], [[natural rubber|rubber]], etc., and they are commonly attached to clothing, bags, [[footwear]], vehicles, home electrical equipment, etc. Textile badges or patches can be either woven or embroidered, and can be attached by gluing, ironing-on, sewing or applique.

Badges have become highly collectable: in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], for example, the Badge Collectors' Circle has been in existence since 1980.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.badgecollectorscircle.co.uk/history#1980-1984 | title = The history of the Badge Collectors Circle | access-date = 2011-08-02}}</ref>

In the [[military]], badges are used to denote the unit or arm to which the wearer belongs, and also qualifications received through military training, rank, etc. Similarly, youth organizations such as [[scouting]] and guiding use them to show group membership, awards and rank.
[[File:Dima-rs1.jpg|thumb|Badge of the [[Germany|German]] ''[[Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)|Bundeskriminalamt]]'']]
[[File:Dispositif_d%27une_épingle_de_sûreté_sur_une_épinglette.JPG|thumb|Back of a badge, with [[safety pin]] attachment]]

==History==
Badges were as popular as jewellery in the [[Middle Ages]], and varied from extremely expensive works of jewellery, like the [[Dunstable Swan Jewel]], to simple mold-made badges in lead or other base metals.<ref>{{cite book|title=Medieval Badges: Their Wearers and Their Worlds |author=Ann Marie Rasmussen|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|date=2021|page=4}}</ref>
Specialized forms were the [[pilgrim badge]], worn by those who had completed a [[pilgrimage]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Push me, pull you. Imaginative, emotional, physical, and spatial interaction in late medieval and Renaissance art|editor-last=Blick|editor-first=Sarah|year=2011|location=Leiden|pages=473–491|chapter=Jennifer Lee, 'Searching for Signs: Pilgrims' Identity and Experience made visible in the Miracula Sancti Thomae Cantuariensis'}}</ref> and [[heraldic badge|heraldic]] or [[livery badges]], worn to denote service or allegiance to a political figure — these last were especially popular in England, and became very controversial in the period leading up to the [[Wars of the Roses]].  One royal celebration in 1483 was marked by the distribution of 13,000 badges, a huge number relative to the population at the time.  Other types were funerary badges, presumably presented to mourners for the funeral of important figures, and simple decorative badges with animals or hearts.  The grandest form of badge was worn as a pendant to a metal collar, often in gold or [[silver-gilt]].

From the livery badge, various badges of service evolved, worn by officials, soldiers and servants. In the [[British Army]] a metal (today often plastic) [[cap badge]] denoting the soldier's [[regiment]] became standard by the 17th century, as in most European armies (though not always navies).  By the 19th century a badge was an almost invariable part of any [[uniform]], including [[school uniform]]s, which in the UK usually still feature the school's badge in cloth on the breast pocket of the jacket or [[blazer]].

==Various uses==
One of the best-known badges is the typically star-shaped [[Sheriffs in the United States|U.S. sheriff]]'s badge, made famous in [[Western (genre)|Westerns]]. The [[Chairman Mao badge]] is probably the most famous political badge. Members of [[fraternities]] and [[sororities]] often refer to the pins that signify their membership as badges.

[[File:A Badge Pinning.jpg|thumb|Badge pinning]]

The [[BBC]] children's programme ''[[Blue Peter]]'' also awards its own "[[Blue Peter badge]]" to members of the public who appear on the show. These are highly collectable as they cannot be bought—except from people who have been awarded one and wish to sell it.

Case badges are thick, about {{convert|3|mm|abbr=on}} deep, {{convert|3|x|3|cm|adj=on}} [[lucite]] stickers that are often packaged with various computer parts, such as processors and video cards. Modern computer cases are frequently embellished with an indentation on the case's front panel to facilitate the affixing of a case badge.

[[Pin-back button|Button badge]]s are a highly collectible round badge with a plastic coating over a design or image. They often have a metal pin back or a safety pin style back. The most popular size is {{convert|25.4|mm|adj=on}} but the badges can range anywhere from this size right up to {{convert|120|mm|adj=on}} badges. This style of badge is used in [[political campaigning]] and often given as part of a birthday greeting such as a [[birthday card]].

In the United States, the badges used by [[law enforcement]], [[Fire guard|fire]], and [[security guards]] are usually made of metal in various colors and finishes and are worn above the left chest pocket on the uniform shirt or jacket.
[[Detective]]s and other [[Undercover|plainclothes personnel]] may wear them on a belt holder, or on a chain around the neck. Shapes are manifold, with [[municipal]] [[police]] departments tending to have some variation of a shield shape, and sheriff's departments usually going with a 5, 6, or 7 point star shape. In most cases, an enameled seal of the organization, city, county, or company can be found in the center of the badge.
<gallery>
File:Greenville, North Carolina Police Badge.jpg|Police Badge, Greenville, North Carolina, presented to the Mayor, [[William J. Hadden]]
File:GeneseeDABadge.jpg|The badge of an Assistant District Attorney in Genesee County, NY.
File:Domoljubna značka 1914.jpg|Patriotic badge (Croatia, 1914)
</gallery>

In [[computing]], badges are used to demonstrate skills.<ref>[https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges Mozilla Open Badges Project]</ref> In education, [[digital badges]] are used as alternative forms of credentials, similar to those being used in the [[MacArthur Foundation]]'s Badges for Lifelong Learning initiative.<ref>{{cite web  | url =http://hastac.org/competitions  | title =Badges for Lifelong Learning  | access-date =2012-11-20  | archive-date =2013-01-15  | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130115095750/http://hastac.org/competitions  | url-status =dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url =http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-about.php  | title = About the Badges for Lifelong Learning initiative | access-date = 2012-11-20}}</ref>

In [[Japan]], [[Lawyer|lawyers]] are often issued [[lapel pin]] badges which serve as an identification tool in court, or during their normal course of work. Since lawyers are vested with special powers by law, such as the power to compel government agencies to provide information, these badges provide a quick way for lawyers to identify themselves as such.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Colin P. A.|date=2015-02-23|title=Badges of honor: what Japan's legal lapel pins really mean|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/02/23/issues/badges-honor-japans-legal-lapel-pins-really-mean/|access-date=2021-11-03|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Attwood, Philip, [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/249149884 Badges]. London: British Museum Press, 2004.
* Attwood, Philip, [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/551321685 Acquisitions of badges (1978-1982)]. London : British Museum Occasional Paper 55, 1985.
* Attwood, Philip, [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26360572 Acquisition of badges (1983-1987)]. London: British Museum Occasional Paper 76, 1990.
* Bible, Don. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27094594 Warrant Discs of the Gestapo & Kripo, 1934-1946]. Morristown, Tenn: Published privately by the author, 1991.
* C.G. Braxmar Co., Inc. (New York, N.Y.). [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/82381756 Illustrated Catalogue of Fire & Police Dept. Badges]. New York: The company, 1921.
* Dinnes, Andrew Ross. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/802182499 Border War Badges: A Guide to South African Military & Police Badges, 1964-1994]. 2011.
* Houser, Todd R., Norm Sorenson, and Ronald L. Myers. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/138342855 A History of the City of Long Beach, California Police Badge]. [Long Beach, Calif.]: Long Beach Police Historical Society, 2005.
* Mauldin, William. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50336963 State Police & State Highway Patrol Badge Guide]. Meadows of Dan, Va: William Mauldin Productions, 1999.
* Taylor, Michael Bradley, and Victor Legender Wilkinson. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24737938 Badges of Office: An Illustrated Guide to the Helmets and Badges of the British Police 1829 to 1989]. Henley-on-Thames: Hazell, 1989.

== See also ==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=23em|
* [[Medal of Honor|Badge of honor]]
* [[Badge of shame]]
* [[Builder's plate]]
* [[Campaign button (political)|Campaign button]]
* [[Charity badge]]
* [[Debadging]]
* [[Diadem]]
* [[Heraldic badge]]
* [[Identity document|Identification badge]]
* [[Lapel pin]]
* [[Military badges of the United States]]
* [[Name plate]] 
* [[Name tag]]
* [[Nursing pin]]
* [[Police memorabilia collecting]]
* [[Stinking badges]]
* [[Web badge]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* Setchfield, Frank (1986). ''Official Badge Collector's Guide: From the 1890s to the 1980s''. London: Longman. {{ISBN|0-582-89306-2}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}
*[https://statenisland.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=badge*&searchButton=Search Badges in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database]
*[http://www.badgecollectorscircle.co.uk/ Badge Collectors' Circle]

{{Orders and phaleristics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Award items]]
[[Category:Badges| ]]