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National Park Service
National Park Service Uniforms Badges and Insignia, 1894-1991 |
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BADGES
In 1883 Congress authorized the use of Army troops to protect Yellowstone National Park. When they started patrolling in 1886, however, they were not empowered to arrest offenders. They could only escort them out of the park. Here and in the California national parks after 1890 the troops sometimes employed ingenious methods, such as expelling offenders from one side of the park while driving their flocks or casting their weapons out the opposite side. But a more regular form of law enforcement was needed. For this duty civilian rangers, or scouts as they were known in Yellowstone, were hired. These early forest rangers, as they would be called, displayed their authority in the form of a badge, usually from some local jurisdiction, or in the case of Yellowstone, the park.
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| Original drawing for 1920 National Park Service ranger badge. |
The earliest known badge attributed to a national park is that of the "Yellowstone Park Scout." It probably came in after the 1894 Lacey Act, when scouts were hired to enforce the hunting prohibition in the national parks. It was silver, round, 2-inches in diameter, with YELLOWSTONE PARK SCOUT stamped around the perimeter. The middle was cut out in the shape of a star and a badge number was stamped in the center. It was made by the J. P. Cook Company of Omaha, Nebraska. The chief scout's badge was sterling and cost $1.25. The other scouts wore badges of German silver and were charged 75 cents if they lost them, probably the replacement cost. [1] These badges were probably worn by rangers at Yellowstone National Park until after the formation of the National Park Service in 1917. [Note 1]
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1894-1906
Chief scouts (sterling silver) | |
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It is not known exactly what the badges issued to rangers in the other parks looked like. But from correspondence and photographs we know that they were being worn. There are three extant photographs of rangers in Sequoia National Park wearing what appear to be two different badges, a round badge over one with a shield configuration.
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1902-1905
Worn by rangers at Sequoia National Park | |
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Two of these photographs are circa 1902; the other one, while undated, shows one of the rangers from the other photographs, Lew Davis, wearing the same clothes. So it can be assumed that it was taken about the same time as the others. The two 1902 photographs are of the same four rangers, taken on the same day. The images are not very clear, but from the shadows on the badges of the two rangers in the center of one of them, the top badge appears to be the size of the 1905 National Park Service "eagle" badge (for want of a better term at this time).
There is a forest reserve ranger badge in a private collection that is stamped "Department of the Interior." This indicates its use before the 1905 separation, for Gifford Pinchot, chief of Agriculture's new Bureau of Forestry, immediately ordered a new badge when he obtained the forest reserves. A photograph in the Forest Service photo collection depicts William Watts Hooper wearing what appears to be this badge. (Hooper received an appointment as a forester in the Kenosha Range country of Colorado sometime after 1887 and moved to Agriculture with the forest reserves in 1905.)
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1898-1905
All forest rangers (park & reserve), except
Yellowstone National Park | |
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The badge in the private collection was made by the John Robbins Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts. It is 2-inches in diameter, convex in shape and made of German, or nickel, silver. It has US in inch-high letters in the center with FOREST RESERVE RANGER around it in 3/16-inch letters. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR is superimposed over the US in 1/8-inch letters. As was common practice with badges at the time, all the letters are stamped into the metal instead of being raised. The park rangers may have worn this badge or one stamped "park ranger" rather than "forest reserve ranger." If this was the case, though, it seems logical that they would have been known as park rangers instead of forest rangers.
This is probably the badge alluded to by Frank F. Liebig in an article he wrote in 1944 for the Forest Service, concerning his recollections as a ranger on the Flathead Forest Reserve in 1902. "The Supervisor gave me a notebook or two and a nice shiny silver badge," he recalled. "It said on it, 'Department of the Interior, Ranger.' " [2] No example of a "Department of the Interior Ranger" badge from this era is known, so Liebig's recollection may have been faulty. The US and FOREST RESERVE are much larger than the DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR and it seems likely that he would have remembered them if indeed this was the style of badge issued to him. Yet such a badge may have been used before 1905 when the national parks and forest reserves were both under Interior, with "National Park Service" supplanting "Ranger" after the forest reserves were transferred to the Department of Agriculture. "National park service" then denoted Interior's park function, not the future bureau. It is interesting to note that he also has what appears to be a second small badge under his ranger badge.
The origin of the bottom shield badge in the photographs is unknown. It would appear to be some kind of patrol badge. To complicate matters further, the shield badge on Charlie Blossom is different from that on the other three rangers, but it has the most contrast of the group. The sketch in the badge layout is the best interpretation possible from magnification.
To clarify the narrative from here on, the badges are assigned numbers based on their dates of introduction.
There is some question as to just how early the 1905 badge came into use. One school of thought is that it came in with the departmental separation of the park and forest personnel in 1905, but there is no corroborating evidence for this. It is possible that the 1905 badge may postdate that year. Correspondence shows that it certainly was in use by 1909. The first "National Park Service" buttons, obtained in 1912, were made utilizing its design. [3] The example in the NPS collection at Harpers Ferry Center Archives is either tin or nickel plated, two inches in diameter, with a variation of the Interior Department's eagle seal used until 1913 (actually a cross between Interior's eagle and the Army breastplate eagle of Civil War vintage). There is a rope edge around the badge, with NATIONAL PARK SERVICE around the top inside the rope edge, and DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR around the bottom. On the back is a pin, without safety catch, for fastening the badge. Yellowstone has another example of this badge in its collection.
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1905-1920
Worn by most rangers, except
Yellowstone National Park | |
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It is not known where these badges were made, [Note 2] but there were several sterling examples and at least one gold example made at Tiffany & Company, New York. The gold one was Stephen T. Mather's, while Horace M. Albright and Jesse Nusbaum each received one of the sterling ones. These badges were all cast instead of the usual stamping. It is not known how many sterling badges were produced. Albright's was stolen from his coat, but Jesse Nusbaum carried his around in his pocket for many years afterward. [4]
The 1905 badges were to be turned in to Park Service headquarters upon receipt of the new 1920 badges. But because the demand for the new badges was greater than the quantity initially produced, the parks were authorized to retain some of the old badges for their temporary rangers. [5] There is a photograph taken at Yosemite in 1926 of six nature guides wearing these badges.
Apparently there was another badge issued in some of the parks around 1917 or 1918. There is evidence that Yosemite and Yellowstone received them, but whether or not any of the other parks did is not known. There are photographs showing rangers in Yosemite wearing a small badge approximately 1-1/4 inches in diameter, about the size of the 1921 superintendent's badge. Replying to the uniform committee's questionnaire of December 2, 1922, Chief Ranger Sam T. Woodring, at Yellowstone, answered question 5b by saying: "The present badge is a great deal larger than necessary. I believe that the small round badge issued prior to the one now used should be re-adopted." [6] It has been suggested that this was the coined center of the 1920 badge and that it was applied to a shield to make the 1920 park ranger badge. This is highly speculative, and it is inconceivable that there would not be some reference in the official correspondence to the fact that the new director's and superintendent's badges were the same as the old ranger badges.
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1917-1920
Circular, approx. 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter | |
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One possible answer may lie in a badge that was issued by the Interior Department in 1919. That year the department adopted a design for a new field service badge that was available for the use of all its bureaus. This design consisted of an adaptation of the departmental seal, with US over the buffalo and a blank space under the feet of the animal in which the name of the particular field service could be inserted. [7] If this is the case, then the 1917 date on the photograph is wrong. There are also two photographs from Yellowstone that fit this category. One, taken in 1919, shows a group of rangers on motorcycles. While not uniformed, Eivind Scoyen's small badge can be seen protruding below his pocket flap.
The second photograph is of E. Burket, taken in 1922. At first glance this image would appear to have been taken prior to 1918. He is wearing a uniform with a military cut which was not to be purchased after 1918. Ranger Burket is also wearing a small round badge. The answer is quite simple. Burket was hired as a temporary ranger in 1921. Rangers had to pay their own expenses and due to their low salary, temporary rangers, for the most part, did not want to spend money for a uniform that they might only be wearing for one summer. Consequently, they were allowed to wear whatever they wished. Many purchased surplus Army uniforms to wear. Superintendent Horace M. Albright changed this at Yellowstone in 1922 by requiring the purchase of a regulation uniform as a condition of employment. Apparently, with the issuance of the 1920 badges, the 1905 badges were not redistributed to the parks to cover the shortage. Instead, the parks retained the badges previously used. In the case of Yellowstone and Yosemite, this was the small round badge.
Although badges were omitted from the 1920 uniform regulations, there was a new badge designed and passed for the use of the National Park Service. This badge was first issued in June 1920. [8] It is a flat, two-piece badge, with a coined center the size of a fifty cent piece featuring an eagle facing forward, with outswept wings, its head looking to the left, mounted on a shield with U.S. PARK RANGER across the top. The coined center is an exact copy of a seal that appears on the back of the cover paper of the National Park Portfolio published in 1916 (see below). This seal does not appear elsewhere. All subsequent editions of the portfolio used the Department of the Interior seal.
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1920-1930
1920-1930 Permanent and temporary rangers | |
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There was only one style of badge and it was intended that all qualified employees, officers and rangers were to wear it. The whole was nickel plated. Apparently the nickel plating was of an inferior quality, because on January 7, 1921, Engineer George E. Goodwin complained that "the present badges are not satisfactorily plated, in that they are beginning to turn yellow and do not retain their original silver color." [9]
There was also much dissatisfaction over the fact that the officers (all permanent employees other than rangers) were required to wear the same badge as the rangers. It was suggested that the 1905 badge be retained for the officers, and that to differentiate between the chief and assistant chief rangers and the park and temporary rangers, the former two have gold-plated badges. [10]
Service headquarters agreed that the badges of the officers should be different from those of the rangers. So when the 1921 regulations were drawn up, they specified that the officers would have a round badge, actually the coined center portion of the standard ranger badge. The ranger badge design remained the same as the 1920. The regulations authorized the following:
Director and assistant director--gold-plated round badge
All other officers--nickel plated round badge
Chief and assistant chief rangers--gold-plated shield badge
Park and temporary rangers--nickel-plated shield badge
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1921-1928 and 1936-1960
1921-1928 Director and assistant directors | |
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Even though the 1921 regulations prescribed that the park ranger badge be the same as the 1920, the specifications sent with the contract called for it to be German silver. [11] The chief and assistant chief ranger badges were the same as the ranger, except for the gold plating.
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1921-1930 Flat, two-piece, gold-plated German silver | |
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There is also evidence that although the regulations called for the superintendent's badge to be nickel plated, at least some of them were sterling. [12]
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1921-1960
1921-1936 Superintendents | |
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The 1921 badges were furnished by F.J. Heiberger & Son, Inc., of Washington, D.C., but since they are unmarked the manufacturer is unknown.
In early April 1921, exception was taken to all of the officers wearing the same badge. Acting Director Arno B. Cammerer considered the badge to be an emblem of authority and felt that only those in positions of command should wear them. About this time a request came in from a superintendent for badges for his clerks, per the regulations. This prompted Director Mather, on April 13, 1921, to amend the new regulations to read that the only officers authorized to wear badges were superintendents, assistant superintendents, and custodians. [13]
The 1921 uniform regulations were amended on June 13, 1922, to specify that "the service badge, that had previously been issued to employees without charge, would now require a $5 deposit." [14] When the badge was lost previously, the replacement cost of eighty cents was levied. Cammerer explained the rationale for the higher deposit:
"Without questioning the honesty of any individual or group of employees we have best reasons to believe that a number of badges are kept or given to friends by employees for souvenirs after paying the small amount to cover cost. These badges are issued to indicate Federal authority and every precaution must be taken to prevent them from falling into the hands of unauthorized persons." [15]
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This emblem was printed on the back of the cover for the National Park Portfolio, 1916. It was used as a model for the center of the 1920 ranger and 1921 officer badges. |
If a ranger "lost" his badge, the deposit was forfeit, and another five dollars was required before he could be issued a new one. No charge was made for replacing broken badges. If the ranger could prove to his superintendent that the badge had been lost through no negligence on his part, the superintendent had the authority to issue another without additional charge. [16]
This arrangement remained in effect until June 15, 1938, when Office Order No. 350 rescinded the five-dollar deposit requirement. It declared instead that "Each temporary ranger and/or fire guard . . . must be informed that unless the badge and collar ornaments are returned in good condition, a deduction of $5.00 will be made for each badge which may be lost."
When the regulations were being revised in 1928, it was questioned whether badges were necessary for the director and assistant director.
It was decided that since these officials did not have direct command responsibility in the field, they were not necessary, and they were subsequently eliminated from the new regulations. The other badges, though, remained the same.
At the 1929 superintendents' conference, it was decided to design a new ranger badge. This task was assigned to Chief Architect Thomas C. Vint of the Landscape Division. A number of designs were submitted, but none of them met the approval of the Washington office. It was thought that it would be advantageous to have a number on the face of the badge, but with all the information that was required by the department, this did not lend itself to a pleasing image. Horace Albright suggested that the committee consider using the departmental buffalo. Even though a drawing was made to this effect, it apparently died from lack of interest.
Because a new badge design could not be agreed upon when new badges were purchased in June 1930, the current design was retained. This time, though, since a new style was in the offing, the badges were stamped in one piece instead of two, probably as a cost-cutting measure. They were still flat with a clasp on the back. Regulations called for them to be numbered, but the wording is somewhat ambiguous. Unlike the later fire guard badges, which were to be consecutively numbered, it is not clear whether they were to be numbered at the factory, at Service headquarters before issue to the field, or in the parks. There are several specimens in the NPS collection, two of which have numbers crudely engraved on their backs, the others being blank. From them it may be assumed that the numbering took place in the field.
Designs for new badges were periodically drawn up, but none of these were satisfactory. Finally, at the Twelfth National Park Conference held at Hot Springs National Park in April 1932, the uniform regulations committee recommended that "there be no change in the design for the Rangers Badge." [17] Consequently, the 1930 badges, along with any 1920 or 1921 badges still in good repair, continued in use until a new badge was designed and issued in 1946.
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1930-1946
1930-1936 Flat, one-piece, gold-plated German silver | |
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1930-1946
1930-1936 Flat, one-piece, nickel-plated German silver | |
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Separate badges were authorized for the fire guards in the 1932 uniform regulations. These badges were in the shape of a shield (different from the ranger shield) and made of bronze. They were to be consecutively numbered for controllability. Until that time, fire guards were issued standard park ranger badges whenever the need arose.
On April 13, 1936, Office Order No. 324 authorized the round gold-plated badge for the use of superintendents and custodians. This badge had formally been used by the directors but had been idle since 1928. The assistant superintendents still retained the nickel-plated round badge. The official correspondence is silent, but suggestions for a new superintendent's badge may have been solicited from the field. There is at least one sketch from this period showing a somewhat fancier suggestion for the new superintendent's badge.
Also that year it appears that the ranger badges began to be curved, or dapped to use the period vernacular. This configuration caused the badge to lie close to the uniform, creating a more pleasing appearance. It is not known if this was at the instigation of the Service or the badge manufacturer. There is no reference to this feature in either the official correspondence or the uniform regulations (as in the 1946 uniform regulations) but it is amply demonstrated by extant examples documented to have been worn by rangers during that period.
The 1940 uniform regulations called for two more badges to be added to the cadre. These were to be used by the park guards and junior park wardens. Both badges were to be the same design as those of the rangers with the substitution of "Guard" and "Warden" for "Ranger."
With the establishment of guide positions at Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave National Parks in the middle of 1941, the need for a guide badge arose. Acting Director Hillory A. Tolson wrote to the Uniform Committee chairman, Superintendent John C. Preston of Lassen Volcanic National Park: "The Uniform Regulations do not now provide for a badge for guides, although they do cover badges of similar design for "park ranger", "park warden" and "park guard". It is believed that we should have a badge with the words "Park Guide" included in the Uniform Regulations." [18]
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1940-1946
Dapped, nickel-plated German silver | |
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1940-1946 Dapped, nickel-plated German silver | |
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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.
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.
In 1955 the Service considered changing the badge. Memos were sent out soliciting suggestions from the men in the field. The NPS collection has one, possibly two, of these "proposed" badges. The first, developed by Frank F. Kowski, had the Service's new arrowhead emblem supplanting the eagle in the center. Three of these were struck, but the idea did not catch on and it was dropped. It was also suggested that an enameled badge of the arrowhead be used, but this brought forth vigorous protestations from the field. [20]
The other possible 1955 candidate has a more obscure history. It was purchased on the outside and donated to the NPS collection. It is assembled from parts of a park ranger badge and an assistant superintendent badge. The badge parts are stamped in brass, using what appears to be the "National Park Ranger" badge die. A piece of brass was cut to match the shape of the shield of the badge, only 1/8-inch larger all around. The center was then cut out to accommodate the ranger badge. Two parallel lines are engraved around the 1/8-inch border. The top of the shield, with the "U.S. PARK RANGER," along with a short section of the two center stripes, was then separated from the badge. This was soldered inside the top of the brass border. A short section of the bottom of the two center stripes was also cut out and soldered to the bottom of the border. A 1-1/4-inch brass circle was then soldered as a bridge between the top and bottom sections of the center stripes. On top of this brass circle is mounted a silver-plated assistant superintendent's badge. The rest of the badge is unplated brass.
When new uniform regulations were issued in October, 1956. the current badge design remained in effect, but the gold-plated ranger badge was now authorized to be worn by the chief park naturalist, chief park historian and chief park archeologists as well as the chief park ranger. At the same time the permanent and seasonal assistant chief park rangers were relegated to wearing the silver badge of the rangers.
In addition to the above, the "park guide" badge was discontinued. It is not known at this time what badge, if any, the guides wore in performing their duties.
Apparently none of the designs submitted during the 1955 quest for changing the design of the badge were satisfactory because on March 9, 1957, Assistant Director Hillory A. Tolson stated in an amendment to the uniform regulations that "As the result of a survey conducted by this Office, it has been determined that there shall be no change made at this time in the design of the badges worn by Service uniformed personnel . . . .
In December 1959, new uniform regulations were released, to become effective on January 1, 1961. These regulations called for the number of different badges worn by uniformed personnel to be reduced to three. The superintendents and assistant superintendents were to wear a "gold rolled fill" badge with NATIONAL PARK RANGER on the top. All park rangers were to wear the same badge, but made of sterling silver and oxidized. All other uniformed personnel requiring a badge would wear one like the ranger badge but with NATIONAL PARK SERVICE at the top.
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1960-1968 Dapped, gold-plated sterling silver | |
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1960-1968 Dapped, sterling silver, oxidized | |
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1960-1968 Dapped, sterling silver, oxidized | |
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While at first glance the badges appear to be of the same design as the previous ones, there are a couple of differences. The eagle now faces to the right, and the circle surrounding the eagle contains UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR instead of NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. These badges are dapped like the earlier ones.
Although the regulations were not to take effect until 1961, the new badges were probably purchased and issued, if a new badge was required, in 1960.
The 1961 regulations were somewhat ambiguous concerning the use of badges by women. Under the general heading of "Badge" they state: "The 'National Park Service' Badge. All uniformed employees except women, boat officers and boat crews, lifeguards, nurses, and fire control aids will wear the shield badge." Yet under the heading of "Women's Uniform" they state: "Badge to be worn on coat and optional on shirt." This could be interpreted to mean that women were to wear the "Park Ranger" rather than the "National Park Service" badge, but there were then no female park rangers. It was suggested at the time that women wear a smaller badge, but this did not happen. [21] Lifeguards and fire control aids had their own badges.
Even though the smaller badge idea was dropped, in January 1962 the wearing of a small silver arrowhead pin was authorized for women in lieu of a badge. [22] This was extremely unpopular among the women, and justifiably so, for the absence of a badge suggested a lack of authority. Some women were so incensed at this that they refused to wear the arrowhead. In some parks, superintendents issued them standard badges. The arrowhead "badge" issued to Betty Otto when she joined the Service in 1963 resembled the standard ranger tie tack except for having a raised edge, as if it had been made to be enameled in the center, and a pin fastening device. It was also nickel plated rather than sterling. The pins were poorly fashioned and were constantly in need of repair.
An Interior Department graphic change came in 1968, during Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall's last year in office. The buffalo seal was replaced by one containing a small circle, symbolizing the sun, over two triangles, symbolizing mountains, over nine small triangles, symbolizing water, all framed by a stylized pair of hands and encircled by "U.S. Department of the Interior." The National Park Service, being a bureau of Interior, followed suit and changed the badge design to reflect the new departmental seal. This time there were only two badges made. The superintendents' and assistant superintendents' badges were gold, while all others were sterling silver. Both badges were identical in design. The shield remained the same, with only the departmental seal replacing the eagle.
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1968-1970 Dapped, gold-filled sterling silver | |
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1968-1970 Dapped, sterling silver, oxidized | |
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The "good hands" emblem met with a great deal of opposition in the Park Service and the department as a whole--so much so that the seal, and the badge, were changed again in less than two years. Secretary Walter J. Hickel, Udall's successor, restored the buffalo to the Interior seal in 1969. The National Park Service again followed suit, using the buffalo this time instead of the eagle previously used. There was only one badge, and all uniformed personnel were to wear it. It was gold and consisted of the standard shield, with the Department of the Interior seal in the center. This comprises a buffalo, facing to the left, standing on grass in front of mountains with a rising sun background, encircled by a band with the words U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR/MARCH 3, 1849. This is the badge that is worn today.
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1970-present Dapped, gold-filled | |
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In addition to the metal badges, the National Park Service has authorized three cloth badges over the years. Some people think of these as patches, but because they were designed to denote the authority of the wearer they are properly considered badges.
Two of these were issued to lifeguards. The first cloth badge (1937) was made out of olive green gabardine, with U.S. PARK LIFE GUARD and an eagle and other symbols embroidered in yellow. Under the eagle is a yellow bar with NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/DEPT OF THE INTERIOR embroidered in white. This badge was to be worn on the lower right side of the bathing suit. There are no known photographs of lifeguards wearing this badge.
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1937-1953 Olive green gabardine with yellow and white embroidery | |
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In 1953, in keeping with the Service's attempt to associate all its activities and locations with its new emblem, the 1937 badge was replaced with one incorporating a variation of the arrowhead. The new badge consisted of a light brown arrowhead with a dark brown border. At the top was NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, and below was DEPT OF THE INTERIOR, both embroidered in black. In the center was embroidered LIFE GUARD in large white letters. With slight variations in size and style, this badge is still worn today.
The 1953 "Lifeguard" cloth badge (see below) was worn until 1983, at which time the swim suit color was changed from orange to red. After 1983 the badge was no longer worn on the swim suit. Instead, it was silk-screen onto the wind breaker and walking shorts. This practice continues today, although there is some discussion about revamping this custom in the near future.
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1953-present Light brown cloth with dark brown border, black & white embroidery | |
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The third cloth badge, or badge patch, as it is called, was authorized in 1991. The general statement, prepared by John Townsend, in the 1990 uniform committee recommendations regarding situations in which this badge patch should be worn best defines its use: "The badge patch is to be worn on special purpose outerwear not normally part of the uniform where identification of the wearer as an NPS employee is essential to the performance of the employee's mission and where the employee would wear a regular gold badge if dressed in a standard uniform." Specific applications for this badge are "raid" vests, snow machine suits, flight suits, survival suits, and tactical vests.
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1991
Badge patch used on outer garments where metal badges
would be inappropriate | |
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Miscellaneous Badges
The following specialized badges are listed separately. Among these are prototypes that were never approved for use and metal badges issued to fire control personnel.
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1955
Design submitted by Frank F. Kowski | |
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Unknown
Donated to the NPS Badge Collection by Michael Mastrangelo | |
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1932-1946
Bronze, oxidized, consecutively numbered | |
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1946
Dapped, bronze | |
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1947-1960
Dapped, silver-plated | |
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1947-1978
Dapped, bronze, oxidized | |
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nps-uniforms/1/sec1.htm
Last Updated: 01-Apr-2016