Introduction

Three stone plaques engraved with the Force’s insignia of different times were erected at the lawn off the Old Teaching Block in the College.

The first plaque was erected by the Commandant Ng Ching-kwok in 1988 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Police Training School (PTS). It was engraved with the Force’s insignia used between 1934 and 1951, with a background of harbour view of the Hong Kong Island from the perspective of the southern Kowloon Peninsula and surmounted by the Imperial Crown with a blue metal ribbon written with “Hong Kong Police” in English at the bottom.

The second and the third ones were erected by the College in 1997. The Force’s insignia on the second plaque was in use since 1969. In recognition of the Force’s contribution during the 1967 riots, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the prefix “Royal” to the “Hong Kong Police”. The insignia retained most of its original design, but the wording on the metal ribbon was changed to “Royal Hong Kong Police” and the original Imperial Crown was replaced by the Queen’s Crown. The third Force’s insignia has been in use since the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 to date. Major changes were made to the design to cope with the change of sovereignty. The Queen’s Crown was replaced by the emblem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the harbour view at the centre changed to five prominent buildings on Hong Kong Island at that time (from right to left: the Exchange Square, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Building, Hong Kong City Hall, Bank of China Tower and New Wing of Arsenal House at the Police Headquarters). From these different Force’s insignia on the memorable plaques, we can witness the historical change of the Force from its founding until now.

Besides, three other memorable plaques are also erected at the Memorable Yard in commemoration of the 50^th, 60^th and 70^th anniversary of Police College.