Chrome plated Queen's Crown Brighton Borough Police helmet plate, marked "Brighton Police", with separate coat of arms centre
Use
For use on a police helmet
Context
The use of a "Queen's" or St. Edward's Crown on this helmet plate, dates it from 1952-1967. Generally speaking chrome or white metal helmet plates such as this were intended for use during daytime, with almost identical black ones being sed during the night. The rationale was that a black helmet badge would not reflect as much light at night and alert a criminal to an officer's presence. This was the practice in Brighton with different helmet badges being used for day and night use.
This particular helmet plate is narrower than is usual for Brighton examples from this period. It may have been intended for used on a smaller helmet, perhaps for motorcycle use.
This style of badge is called a Brunswick star and its use on police helmets goes back to the 1870s. However it only became more common after 1934 when the Home Office attempted to standardise police uniforms and insignia.
