Veteran Gifts! Insignias and Forces Badges

Editing a Forces Insignia Badge

A badge is a source of pride and is usually hard won! Using the insignia or mascot that has been earned in the forces is a great way to send a message on a gift and it makes the best gift idea for retirement. What better gift idea for brave folks serving in the army, navy, police, fire service or indeed – any other service!

This police force badge was reproduced on a leather journal as a leaving gift for a retiring policeman filled with messages from his colleagues. A custom design is also a great gift idea. Distinctive Goods received a request from the wife of a man serving in the anti-tank regiment who wanted his have initial worked into the insignia so we build a personalized gift based on the badge and his initials. He was a big whisky man so a personalized decanter was arriving for his birthday. The only problem was that we only had a rough photo of a fabric badge to work from!

The designers did well in working this army badge into a custom design with a personalized message and we are pretty sure that he enjoyed his whisky 🙂

anti tanks badge

Forces Insignia – Army, Navy and Airforce Badges – History Worn on the Arm

This got us to investigating other insignia and the history of forces emblems and designs are a fascinating subject. A source of pride and a direct insight into the history of the regiment, corps, unit or division.
Even small boats will have their own insignia – one of our favorite from our Scottish designers is HMS Pursuer which features a hunting dog. A very apt figure for a ship whose namesake first came into the Royal Navy from the US Navy in 1942 and saw active service in another incarnation as a tank landing ship. Now she is a training vessel but the emblem remains and the hunt goes on!

Navy emblems gifts

A Symbol of our Times

One of the most famous (for our British cousins) is of course the parachute regiment. The famous pegasus emblem was approved by Winston Churchill but famously axed in a bureaucratic reshuffle which caused a great deal of pain for the soldiers who regarded this as no less than a mascot. The badge was reinstated after much aggravation and we are happy to report the pegasus continues to fly!