The
Force crest is taken from the Armorial Bearings of the British
Transport Commission and was registered with the Royal College of
Arms on 3 June 1956. The only part of the Arms used by the railways
was the crest (in heraldry the crest is the decoration on the
helmet) ie. the lion holding a railway wheel. British Transport
Commission Police also used the crest on the helmet plates of its
officers.
On 27 September 1962 the use of the arms were transferred to the
British Railways Board who continued to use the lion and wheel
motif until they adopted the “coming and
going” logo in the mid sixties. In 1962 British
Transport Police dropped the word
“commission” from its title and decided
to use the centre part of the arms (the shield) for its symbol.
Technically described the arms are: “Vert on a
fesse argent, two bars wavy azure, doubly cottised, between in
chief three railway wheels and in base a portcullis of the second,
chained or.”
For the layman however the Royal College of Arms give the
following explanation: “The field is green (called
vert) and across the centre runs a broad band of silver called a
fesse; this is to symbolise the broad highways – roads. On the
silver fesse are two wavy blue bars called barrulets, to represent
the steel railways. These do not have to be blazoned (ie. described
heraldically) as barrulets, because when a narrow bar runs parallel
to a fesse it is called cottise, and when there is one on either
side of the fesse, the fesse is described as cottised. When there
are two pairs of narrow bars on either side, the fesse is said to
be doubly cottised.”
In the upper part of the shield (called the chief – or in chief)
are three silver wheels, symbolising locomotives and rolling stock;
in the base of the shield is a silver portcullis with gold chains
which symbolise a gateway, entrance or port. Thus the four
principle departments controlled by the British Transport
Commission were:
- British railways
- Roads and road transport
- Canals and waterways
- Ports and harbours are represented
You may have noticed that the current badge used by the force
used different colours than those described. Although our badge is
technically that of the British Railways Board rather than
belonging exclusively to British Transport Police, we would appear
to be the only organisation ever to have used the shield. The
symbols contained in the badge (often described as
“the wheels, the water and the way”)
continue to represent our work particularly since we now police
international services (the channel tunnel link) and roads
(tramways).
Kevin Gordon
BTP History Society