Norfolk Fire Service formed in 1948 & continued until 2000 changing its title to Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service. In 1983 the cap badge design changed to the standard Norfolk Fire Service coat of arms metal enamel badge, the same badge attached to this London Badge & Button Company manufactured Senior Officers cap badge ! This very rare officers cap badge is a factory sample badge of which only 2 exist !! If anyone else has an original London Badge & Button manufactured Norfolk Fire Service metal Senior Officers cap badge, i will re write this accurate description.
Norfolk Fire Service Senior Officers DID NOT wear an officers wreath metal cap badge on their senior officer caps. They wore BULLION cap badges !!
When a badge manufacturing comany is chosen by the brigade to manufacture their issued cap badges, a SAMPLE CARD is produced of different Home Office star patterns with varied enamel centres attached, variations in colour, metal used & one officers varition. This card is duplicated & one card is sent to the brigade for approval & to choose a particular star & centre, the other kept at the manufacturers factory to identify the chosen sample to be mass produced ! Sometimes a card is also kept in the manufacturing workshop to identify the chosen badge. Badge manufacturing company practice would be linked to negative waste of metals. They only produce no more than 2 / 3 samples of each badge if its never going to be chosen !!
Once the chosen badge is removed from the sample card, these remaining variations get stored, forgotten about, even chucked away or melted back down. These cap badges are extremely RARE with only one or 2 existing in the world !!
This London Badge & Button Company manufactured cap badge is one such factory sample badge as explained above, Norfolk Fire Service were never issued these wreath style metal cap badges for officers.
I am aware of just 2 & own both of those at this present time. London Badge & Button Company were the official manufacturer & supplier of cap badges to the brigade. This cap badge is 100% original & is either the brigades rejected sample or the manufacturers held sample awaiting approval from Norfolk Fire Service. It is well known that rather than waste an already made badge, LB&B sold them off to the trade with both rejected samples & obsolete badges.
The cap badge is in excellent condition with both cap fixing lugs intact to the rear of the cap badge.