Badge, fireman's badge

Office Fireman's uniform badge belonging to the West of England Insurance Co. London Museum Catalogue No. 5 'Costume', 1935, p 132.

From the end of the 17th century, insurance companies began to form their own fire brigades to be called upon to fight fires and to protect and salvage items from the buildings that they insured, or those that they didn’t in return for a fee to be paid later.

These firemen needed to be identified as employees of the company, so were clothed in colourful costumes and given badges of silver or silver-gilt to be worn on the sleeve.