Ordnance Insignia of the British Army

Royal Arms in Wreath with Coloured Border
Kings Crown - Sealed Working Pattern

I have been trying to locate information or sample of a Royal Arms in Wreath with Coloured Border and Kings Crown for some time. I found the following extract from a letter in the Autumn 1998 edition of Crown Imperial commenting on an article by
John McKenzie on Conductors RAOC.

Extract from 'Crown Imperial' Letter

I wrote to Marc J Sherriff at the RA Museum, who very kindly supplied the following images:

Front of Sealed Working Pattern

Rear of Sealed Working Pattern (Note the use of the 'Board of Ordnance' Wax Seal)
The rear of the 'Working Pattern' also records the contracts issued and normally also the quantities ordered.

This Sealed 'Working Pattern' was produced for all 3 outer border colours of Royal Arms in Wreath:

CB 2493 - Royal Arms in Wreath in Yellow Border - for WO1 (Staff Sargent Major, First Class) RASC
(After the 1965 McLoad reorganisation, all Staff Sargent Majors, First Class RASC transferred to the RAOC and in 1967 were renamed Conductors RAOC)

CB 2937 - Royal Arms in Wreath in Scarlet Border - for WO1 (Conductor) RAOC
(After April 1993, became, Conductors RLC)

CB 2492 Royal Arms in Wreath in Red Border - for WO1 (Master Gunner Class 1) RA
(Worn above a separate Gun Badge)

COSA June 1997 - NSN Reference CB 8455-99-977-9283 Royal Arms in Wreath in Red Border. Is now worn by both the RA & RLC

Why the badge was produced in both Scarlet and Red I do not know, since the Arms of Service colour for both the RA & RAOC is Red.

A latter 'St Edwards Crown' working pattern may well have been produced.

Notes on Sealed Patterns

When an item of Clothing or Badge is accepted into use it is allocated a Catalogue Number and a Master ‘Sealed Pattern’ is produced. A ‘Working Pattern’ or a number of ‘Working Patterns’ is also produced that are used by the Manufacture or Contractor to compare with the written specification to insure that the finished item matches that what is required for the Services. A sample will then be compared with the ‘Master Pattern’ before it is accepted into service.

This style of Sealed Pattern is no longer used. A Buff Label which is affixed to the item and sealed with a small metal tag is used today. Also use is made of Computer Images to produce a specification and image file that fits onto a 3½” Floppy Disk is used for less complex items.

M Comerford - December 2003 - HTML Revision 1