Militaria Abbreviations and References

Abbreviations used as jargon by military badge collectors and specialist insignia dealers. We use these abbreviations and references in our catalogues and on our Militaria website.

Militaria Collectors and dealers often use reference books which show pictures of badges and buttons, often with a reference number, for example 'KK 594' refers to a picture of a Royal Warwickshire Regiment cap badge in the Books: 'Head-Dress Badges of the British Army' (2 volumes) by AL Kipling & HL King.  'KK' refers to the books using the initials of the authors' surnames, and 594 is the numbered illustration of that cap badge in their books.

A/A

Anodised Aluminium (Staybrite)- introduced from 1950 onwards.

AE

Book: 'Anzac Elite - The Airborne & Special Forces Insignia of Australia & New Zealand' by Cliff Lord & Julian Tennant

BCR

Book: 'Arm Badges of the British Cavalry Regiments' by P Seaman

BDFA 

Book: 'Buttons of the Defence Forces in Australia' by JK Cossum

Bi  

 Bi-Metallic (made from 2 metals)

BIC

Book: 'History of the British Army Infantry Collar Badge' by CG Churchill

BLD 

Book: 'US Army Cloth Insignia 1941 to the Present' by Brian L Davis

BLM 

Book 'British Cloth Formation Signs' by BL Morris (Numbers after BLM = Volume, Chapter, Badge)

Br 

Brass or Gilding Metal

Bloomer

Book: 'Scottish Regimental Badges 1793-1971' by WH & KD Bloomer

Brooker 

Book: 'Canadian Cap Badges of World War II (with Queen's Crown Supplement)' by C Brooker

BT 

Books: 'Parachute Badges & Insignia of the World' (published 1979) or 'Parachute Wings' (published 1985) by RJ Bragg & Roy Turner.

Chr 

Chromium plated

Cossum 

Book: 'Australian Army Badges' (3 volumes) by JK Cossum

Cox 

Book: 'Military Badges of the British Empire 1914-1918' by RHW Cox

CW 

Book: 'British Army Collar Badges' by CG Churchill & R Westlake

DTB 

Book: 'Doing Their Bit - Home Front Lapel Badges 1939-1945' by Jon Mills

E, enam 

enamel

EL 

Book: 'British Army Proficiency Badges' (published 1984) by Denis Edwards & David Langley

Embr 

embroidered

FL 

Facing Left (as seen by an observer)

FR 

Facing Right (as seen by an observer)

GS 

 Book: 'Buttons - A Guide for Collectors' by Gwen Squire (Numbers after GS = Plate - Button)

G  

 Gilt

HPC 

Helmet Plate Centre

HR 

Book: 'Buttons of the British Army 1855-1970' by Howard Ripley

IGK 

Booklet: Modern Cloth Head-Dress Badges of the British Forces' by Ian G Kelly

JG 

Book: 'Military Badge Collecting' by John Gaylor

KC 

King's Crown (1901-1952)

KK 

Books: 'Head-Dress Badges of the British Army' (2 volumes) by AL Kipling & HL King

LB 

 Book: 'Livery Buttons - The Pitt Collection' by Gwen Squire

LD 

Book: 'Cavalry Warrant Officers' and Non-Commissioned Officers' Arm Badges' by D Linaker & G Dine

Owen 

Book: 'The Military Badges and Insignia of Southern Africa' by CR Owen

PA 

 Book: 'A People's Army - Civil Defence Insignia & Uniforms 1939-1945' by Jon Mills (page numbers shown)

PSNG 

PsyWar Society Number (Gulf) (used to identify Gulf War Propaganda Leaflets)

(P) 

Pair (shown in brackets in Reference column).  This applies to items such as collar badges and shoulder titles that are normally worn in pairs.  It refers to the price for a pair, rather than price for a single item.  We may have more than one pair of these in stock - if you want more than one pair, then put the quantity you want on your Order Form and we will try to oblige.

QC 

Queen's Crown (post-1952)

QVC 

Queen Victoria's Crown (1837-1901)

Rawlings 

Book: 'OTC, CCF, Cadet, ACF Badges' by KGT Rawlings

Ripley 

Book: 'Police Forces of Great Britain and Ireland -their Amalgamations and their Buttons' by H Ripley

RVB 

Book: 'Rifle Volunteer Buttons - 1859-1908' by H Ripley and D Darmanin

(S) 

Single (shown in brackets in Reference column).  This applies to items such as collar badges and shoulder titles that are normally worn in pairs.  It refers to the price for a single item, rather than price for the pair.  We might have more than one of of an item in stock - if you want more than one, then put the quantity you want on your Order Form and we will try to oblige.

Squire 

Book: 'Livery Buttons - The Pitt Collection' by Gwen Squire

S/P 

Silver Plate

TA 

Territorial Army

TW 

Book: 'Badges of Office' by MB Taylor & VL Wilkinson (Police badges)

Book: 'Collecting Metal Shoulder Titles' by Ray Westlake

WM  

 White Metal

 Nearest to reference if no exact match in Reference Book.