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This large die-struck openwork insignia features the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom beneath a King’s / Tudor Crown, surrounded by the Garter bearing the motto:
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
The central quartered shield incorporates the traditional arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, surrounded by an ornate foliate openwork frame.
Research has identified this as the general-pattern British Colonial Police King’s Crown helmet plate. A specialist police-insignia dealer catalogs an example at 85 × 69 mm, or approximately 3.35 × 2.72 inches — essentially the same dimensions as this example — and identifies the pattern as having been issued for use by colonial police forces including the Leeward Islands, Mauritius and St. Lucia.
Another specialist source identifies this King’s Crown pattern as worn by British colonial police officers during the 1920s and 1930s. A Leeward Islands specialist reference records the large King’s Crown helmet plate pattern as having been worn from approximately 1910, so the design was already in service during the World War I period.
Because this is the general Colonial Police pattern and carries no colony-specific title or maker mark, the particular force that originally used this example cannot be determined. It should therefore not be attributed specifically to Leeward Islands, Mauritius, St. Lucia or another colony without additional provenance.
The piece was purchased from a seller in the United Kingdom, who described it as a World War I badge. The pattern is demonstrably old enough to have been in use during that period, although this particular example cannot be dated specifically to 1914–1918.
The reverse shows the impressed relief characteristic of the thin die-struck construction. Comparison with surviving examples shows that these helmet plates normally had rear mounting loops or lugs; those fittings are no longer present on this example.
An excellent piece of British Empire and police history for collectors of British Colonial Police, helmet plates, King’s Crown insignia, British Empire memorabilia, police badges, royal heraldry and early 20th-century uniform equipment.
Measurements: approximately 3.25 in. high × 2.75 in. wide.
Please study all photographs carefully for surface condition, patina, edges and missing mounting fittings.
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