Name/Title
East Sussex Constabulary black helmet plate 1952-1967Entry/Object ID
519Description
Black painted East Sussex Constabulary Queen's Crown helmet plate with separate chrome East Sussex coat of arms insert. Marked around edge "East Sussex Constabulary".Use
For use on a police helmet.Context
The use of a "Queen's" or St Edward's Crown on this helmet plate dates from 1952 to 1967, but East Sussex Constabulary only re-introduced the helmet in 1954 after over 30 years. Generally speaking black helmet badges such as this were intended for use at night with almost identical white metal or chromed helmet plates being used during the daytime. Yet some police forces such as East Sussex Constabulary (after 1954) used black helmet plates for both day and night use. There are some all chrome versions of this badge stamped from one piece of metal, without a separate insert, which were the last official helmet plates adopted by the force in the second half of 1967, and while certainly issued to some officers it is not known how widespread their use was and whether they totally replaced black helmet badges altogether.The December 1967 stand-down parade appears to show officers wearing all chrome versions.
There are also examples of plated versions of the two piece badge, some overpainted black and some with the paint removed. It is not known exactly how they fit in and whether they represent earlier samples or experiments in finishes or not.
In 1967 the Force name was changed to "East Sussex Police" and new helmet and cap badges were made but only issued to new recruits (see item 529). They were identical to the one pictured other than the word "Constabulary" was replaced with "Police". These new badges were only used until 1968, when the Force was amalgamated into the new Sussex Constabulary.
This style of badge is called a Brunswick Star and its use on police helmets goes back to the 1870's. However it only became more common after 1934, when the Home Office attempted to standardise police uniforms and insignia.