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) |
W |
Book: 'Collecting Metal Shoulder Titles' by Ray Westlake |
WM |
White Metal |
* |
Nearest to reference if no exact match in Reference Book. |