Name/Title
Collection of Queen's Crown police rank insignia c1970-1980Entry/Object ID
2344Description
Collection of 7 chrome plated Queen's Crown rank insignia, each with red enamel metal inserts, 4 of which have pin clasps for attaching to clothing/epaulettes. See general notes regarding the location of one of these crowns.Use
For use on police uniform to determine rankContext
The British police followed the example of the military and use crowns to designate rank. Though there have been some changes over the years, the standard insignia for a superintendent is a crown and that for a chief superintendent, a crown and a Bath Star. A crown is also used on the insignia for a chief constable along with crossed tip staves within a laurel wreath.
The use of the Queen's Crown dates these from 1952, although they are more likely of a later date. Metal examples such as these are still used on dress tunics and in the past were used on shirt epaulettes in Sussex Police until they were replaced by embroidered versions, in the mid 1990s.
These were collected by a ex superintendent who served in East Sussex Constabulary and Sussex Constabulary/Sussex Police and could have been used in any of these forces.