Name/Title
Black painted police helmet rose c1950sEntry/Object ID
157Description
A black painted brass rose shaped cover for the top of a police helmet. No makers marks.Use
For use on a dome topped police helmet.Context
With some variation there are essentially three different types of traditional British police helmet, individual police forces not all using the same type. There are dome topped helmets, coxcomb helmets and ball topped helmets, all of which are still in use. Occasionally more elaborate types were and still are used for ceremonial occasions but the three main types have been in use since the late 19th century.
Dome topped police helmets usually have a metal helmet rose such as this, which has holes to allow for ventilation, there being a hole in the top of the helmet itself. Helmets with roses are the most common still in use and the more widespread use of them on helmets dates from the 1934 Dixon Report into police uniform, which attempted to standardise what was worn nationally. That report recommended dome topped helmets with rose tops, as then worn by a number of police forces including the Metropolitan Police, be used nationally. However their adoption was not universal as is reflected in the continuing variety of helmet styles worn.
The finish of helmet roses and the "furniture" used on other styles of helmet is the same as the badges or helmet plates used. This particular rose is black, which means that it would have been used in conjunction with a black helmet badge or plate. With the exception of Brighton, all of the other police forces in Sussex at one time or other used helmets with black roses, and black badges, and this rose may have come from any of them.
Sussex Constabulary used chrome plated helmet roses, as does Sussex Police at present.