Formation Sign : Royal Visit Car Company

Place Oceania: Australia
Accession Number REL26017
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Badge
Physical description Cotton woven; Embroidery cotton thread
Maker Unknown
Place made Australia
Date made c 1953-1954
Conflict Period 1950-1959
Description

Machine woven cotton formation sign for the Royal visit of 1954. The badge comprises an embroidered royal blue square with a 3mm wide navy blue border. Within the square is an embroidered Queen's crown in red, blue, gold and white, above a pair of curved boxes containing, in gold, the words 'ROYAL VISIT' and 'CAR COMPANY'.

History / Summary

Introduced to the Australian Army in 1950, and adopted from British Army practice, formation signs were intended to be worn on each sleeve in conjunction with embroidered shoulder titles. This combination, which replaced the traditional Australian system of colour patches, enabled an observer to determine both the wearer's parent formation, and their corps or unit within that formation. The use of formation signs within Australia was discontinued in about 1960, with the introduction of the new, American based 'Pentropic' system of military organisation. Australian units serving overseas, however, continued to wear them for many years. This Royal Visit Car Company badge was produced for the 1954 tour of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. This replaced the proposed 1952 tour, which had been cancelled due to the death of King George VI.