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Badges
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National Park Service Uniforms Badges and Insignia 1894-1991 |
Number 1 |
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The Uniform Committee took this suggestion under advisement and recommended "that a badge of similar design with the words "Park Guide" be included in the Uniform Regulations." [19] It is not known whether these badges were ever made and issued, or whether the events of World War II overtook them. There are no known examples of these badges or the guard and warden badges in the nickel-plated, flat configuration. All the special badges in the NPS collection are of the silver-plated, convex (or "dapped" in departmental terminology) configuration issued in 1946. The 1940 regulations are dated November 22, 1940, so it seems logical that at least the guard and warden badges would have been made and issued.
By 1941, the National Park Service had grown to the point that it was no longer feasible to have the usual two- or three-man Uniform Committee. Consequently, the Uniform Committee was expanded to include two representatives from each of the four NPS regions. Lemuel A. Garrison, superintendent of Hopewell Village National Historic Site, and Benjamin L. Hadley, assistant superintendent of Acadia National Park, were selected from Region One. In reply to the customary uniform change suggestion request, several suggestions related to badges, a couple of them somewhat prophetic. One thought that all of the uniformed personnel should wear the same badge. Another suggested that the badges be reduced to two, one for rangers, the other to have "National Park Service" across the top for all others required to wear a badge. The war precluded any changes at that time.
After hostilities ceased, new badges were obtained by the NPS in 1946. There were five different badges in this series: chief and assistant chief ranger, park ranger, park guard, park warden, and park guide. These were of the same basic design as the 1930 issue except for being dapped, or convex, so that the pin did not make them stand away from the uniform, resulting in a more pleasing appearance. The chief and assistant chief ranger badges were the same as the park ranger badge, only gold plated as before. Although the regulations called for the other badges to be nickel plated, all the examples in the NPS collection are silver-plated brass with an oxidized finish. The plating was evidently thin, for the majority of these specimens show considerable wear. The superintendents and assistant superintendents still wore the small round badges in gold and silver, respectively.
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1946-1960 Dapped, gold-plated brass | |
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1946-1960 Dapped, silver-plated brass, oxidized | |
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1946-1960 Dapped, silver-plated brass, oxidized | |
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1946-1960 Dapped, silver-plated brass, oxidized | |
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1946-1960 Dapped, silver-plated brass, oxidized | |
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Also at this time, new badges were authorized for the fire guards, now called fire control aides. After the initial order, all subsequent orders changed the spelling on the badge to "Fire Control Aid." While not covered in the uniform regulations, there is a silver fire control aid badge in the NPS collection that is purported to have been issued to supervisors.
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Last Modified: Thurs, Jul 28 2000 07:08:48 am PDT
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/workman1/vol1c6.htm
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