History of the Force's Badge

4 Photos

Although the Force was established in 1844, it did not possess its own badge until 1934. This begs the question: What type of insignia was used to represent the Force during this period of time?

In the early days of the Force, the crown of the British monarch was used as the symbol of the Force. The old photos of the Chinese policemen in the 19th Century show that Queen Victoria's crown appears on their Chinese style hats. Besides this, the Queen's crown was also worn by senior police officers as a cap badge. Hats and cap badges bore the royal insignia, and buttons also bore it as the Force symbol.

The symbols of the Force changed with time. With King Edward VII ascending the throne in 1901, one set of buttons within the Museum's collection bears the royal cypher "E VII R" with a crown surmounting it. One should note the difference between the King's crown and the Queen's crown. The Museum has buttons that bear the royal cypher of "E VII R", but no cap badge bearing this cypher can be found.

The symbol of the Force changed again when King George V came to the throne in 1910. His royal cypher "GRI", which stands for "Georgivs V dei gra: britt:omn: Rex fid: def: Ind: Imp:" and with the Imperial Crown surmounting it, was widely used as the Force symbol. Hat badges from this time bear this insignia, as do collar badges, button sets and cloth badges found from the Museum's collection.

Design of the Force's insignia

"GRI" was used as the Force symbol until 1934. From that time onwards the Force possessed its own distinctive insignia. The Flag Badges, Seals and Arms of Hong Kong published by the Government Press in May 1963 featured a brief history of the Police badge: "Until 1934 the cap badge of the Police Force consisted of the letters GRI surmounted by a Crown. The badge was not used solely by the Police, and in 1934 Mr K. A. Bidmead, now the Deputy Commissioner of Police, suggested that the Police should have their own distinct badge. He was authorised to design a new badge, and the present Police badge is the result of his work. As can be seen, it incorporates the 1876 harbour picture (with certain modifications) surrounded by a laurel wreath and surmounted by a crown."

Although the Force had its own distinctive badge from 1934 onwards, this new badge, as well as the Imperial Crown, were used as cap badges of the Force simultaneously until the outbreak of the Second World War.

As mentioned above, change of monarch also brought change to Police badge. The Police badge adopted by the Hong Kong Police in 1934 remained unchanged even though Edward VIII and later George VI ascended the throne in 1936. However, the Police badge had a different appearance after Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father in 1952. The original police badge was designed during the reign of George V, so the crown surmounting it was the Imperial Crown. After the Queen's accession, two different types of Police badge appeared: one was in its original design, whilst the other was surmounted by the Queen's crown instead of the Imperial Crown. Despite these changes, the cap badge and the lapel badge retained their original design. It was not until 1969, after the Royal prefix was granted to the Hong Kong Police and the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police that the Police badge had its first official alteration. It was the then DCP Mr G.A.R. Wright-Nooth QPM CPM, founder of the Force Historical Records Committee, which later became the Force Museum Advisory Committee, who was tasked with the job of designing a new badge. The Crown was subsequently changed from the Imperial Crown to the Queen's crown, and the prefix "Royal" was added to the Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Auxiliary Police.

Change after 1997

Before the era of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force ended on June 30, 1997, the Force's new badge was published in March 1997. The new design was, in fact, based on the design that had been in use for more than 60 years, having at its centre the Hong Kong waterfront featuring five prominent buildings on the waterfront, surrounded by laurel wreath. The buildings, from right to left, are Exchange Square, the HSBC, City Hall, the Bank of China Tower and the West Wing of Arsenal Building at the Police Headquarters. A blue scroll with "Hong Kong Police" in both Chinese and English is found at the bottom, with the bauhinia emblem surmounting the badge. The official names of the regular and auxiliary police forces in Hong Kong were changed to the Hong Kong Police Force and the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force respectively.

(This article is contributed by the Police Museum, which is located at 27 Coombe Road, Hong Kong. It opens from 9am to 5 pm from Wednesday to Sunday, 2pm to 5pm on Tuesday and closes on Monday and public holiday.)

Mr Bidmead, designer of the Force's distinctive insignia in 1934