Name/Title
East Sussex Police black helmet plate 1967Entry/Object ID
949Description
Black painted Brunswick star East Sussex Police Queen's Crown helmet plate with separate chrome East Sussex coat of arms insert. Marked around edge "East Sussex Police". The rear lugs have been bent to allow previous mounting.Use
For use on a police helmet.Context
In 1967 in the full knowledge that East Sussex Constabulary was going to be amalgamated with the other surviving Sussex Police forces in 1968, the Force name was changed from East Sussex Constabulary to East Sussex Police, and new insignia made to reflect this, including black helmet plates such as this. However in practice it is thought that the new badges marked "Police" instead of "Constabulary" were only actually issued to new recruits. In any case they were only in use for a year. There do exist a very small number of all chrome "Police" versions, but they are thought never to have been issued. 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 used black helmet plates for both day and night use. However the last official helmet plate adopted by the Force in the second part of 1967, was an all chrome one marked "East Sussex Constabulary". It is not known whether these were worn in conjunction with either black badge or whether they replaced them altogether.
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.