The Trades Hall Badge Collection

The trade union badge is a symbol of identity, pride and belonging. Its origins are probably found in British craft unions. The movement of badges around the world can be seen as an atlas of the way British trade union organisation moved through the British empire old empire. The organisations set up by emigrants to the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, India and New Zealand eventually became organisations in their own right but many of the symbols were carried over because for many years they operated as branches of a British union.

The symbols on badges were often drawn from the original union banners and membership cards, some dating to the 1700s but most from the 1820-1860 period, the elaborate ceremonial tools of unions. Badges seem to have come to the fore from the 1890s, probably because of the rising cost of banner making, and the declining costs of getting badges produced, as manufacturing technologies changed.

Paul Martin, in the most comprehensive work on the development, history and use of union badges cites evidence that the development of drop stamping machines in the 1840s was an important innovation for the making of metal badges. Mass production did not begin until much later. As Martin puts it, “If the banner represented the collective identity and all that it stood for, then the badge represents the personalization of, and compliance with, that same collective identity.” (Martin, 2001)

There were many reasons for unions to strike badges. Annual conferences were one reason, a new badge for members for each year, or each quarter and for particular work shifts. The Barrier Industrial Council (BIC of Broken Hill) badges are the best illustration of this in Australia and possibly the world.   The BIC continues to issue quarterly badges to this day

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 Special occasion badges such as the eight-day commemorative badges dating from 1890 up
to a silver jubilee in 1905 were particularly important in Australia.

The six-hour day was later a campaign focus and we have examples from that 1930s campaign.

Also they were struck to raise funds and highlight the importance of solidarity. The 1984-85 British miners strike was the most recent example of this on a large scale. The individual branches of union halls and lodges (miners lodges) made their own badges. This has been a practice in some coal mining areas in Australia a little in Australia but the district solidarity was perhaps more notable in England, Wales and Scotland. The US union movement is organised on the basis of “locals”.

Other badges on particular strikes and campaigns in the Trades Hall collection include the Timex strike badge, the Miscellaneous Workers Unions cleaners badge protesting privatisation of school cleaning services and most recently many badges produced by individual unions on the Rights at Work campaign

Badges were struck for recreational and sporting activities and clubs. Unions also struck badges when amalgamations were planned by union officials and then promoted to the members.

Union Officials had badges identifying themselves to members at workplaces and delegates had delegates badges to conferences. Life membership badges are important ways of recognising individual members.

The Trades Hall Badge Collection comprises 1500 badges of unions from around Australia and across the world.

See Greg Smith’s book Emblems of Unity: Badges of Australian Trade Unions (1992). For a detailed discussion of the history, symbols and the use of union badges see Paul Martin The Trade Union Badge: material culture in action (2001)