A Glossary of British Military Collecting Terms

Introduction

Militaria collecting, like any specialist field, has its own vocabulary — a mix of military terminology, collector shorthand, trade jargon, and technical terms that can be bewildering to newcomers. Understanding this language is essential for reading catalogue descriptions, following dealer conversations, navigating online listings, and communicating effectively with fellow collectors. This glossary defines over 200 terms commonly encountered in British militaria collecting, organised alphabetically for easy reference.

A

• Acceptance mark: A stamp applied to military equipment indicating it has passed official inspection. The British Army’s standard acceptance mark is the broad arrow (↑).
• Amalgamation: The merging of two or more regiments into a single unit, often resulting in new cap badges and insignia. Major amalgamation rounds occurred in 1881, 1958, 1966, and 2007.
• Annealing: The process of heating and slowly cooling metal to soften it, used in badge and medal manufacture to prevent cracking during striking.
• Anodised: A badge finishing process used from the late 1950s onwards, producing a hard, coloured surface. Anodised aluminium badges replaced traditional brass/white metal in many units. Also called “Staybrite.”
• Attributed: An item linked to a specific individual through naming, provenance, or documentation. An “attributed” medal group has been matched to a specific serviceman’s record.

B

• Back badge: A badge worn at the back of headdress, notably by the Gloucestershire Regiment, commemorating their fighting back-to-back at the Battle of Alexandria (1801).
• Bar (medal clasp): A metal device attached to a medal ribbon indicating a specific action or campaign. Also called a “clasp.” Multiple bars indicate service in multiple engagements.
• Barathea: A tightly woven fabric used for officers’ service dress and mess dress, with a distinctive twill weave. Typically in dark blue, green, or khaki.
• Bi-metal: A badge constructed from two different metals (typically brass and white metal) to create a two-tone effect. Common in regimental cap badges from the Victorian era onwards.
• Blancoed: Webbing treated with Blanco — a coloured cleaning preparation. Different colours were used for different orders of dress: khaki (KG3), green, white (KG5). A blancoed item retains traces of the paste.
• Broad arrow: The ↑ symbol used as the British government property mark since the 17th century. Found stamped on virtually all military equipment, from swords to spoons to uniforms.
• Brodie helmet: The distinctive steel helmet designed by John Brodie in 1915, used throughout WWI and WWII. Properly designated the Helmet, Steel, Mark I (and subsequent marks).
• Brooch pin: A fixing method on the reverse of a badge, using a pin and catch like a jewellery brooch. Common on sweetheart brooches and some officer-quality badges.
• BWM: British War Medal 1914–1920. The bronze medal issued to virtually all personnel who served overseas in WWI. Named on the rim.

C

• Campaign medal: A medal awarded for service in a specific campaign or theatre of operations. Distinguished from gallantry awards (for bravery) and long-service medals.
• Cap badge: A metal badge worn on military headdress identifying the wearer’s regiment, corps, or branch of service. The primary focus of many British militaria collections.
• Carbine: A short-barrelled rifle, lighter than a full-length infantry rifle. British examples include the Lee-Enfield Cavalry Carbine.
• Casting: A manufacturing method where molten metal is poured into a mould. Cast badges and medals typically show softer detail than die-struck examples and may indicate a reproduction.
• Chelengk: An Ottoman decoration — a jewelled plume — famously awarded to Nelson after the Battle of the Nile. Extremely rare in the militaria market.
• Clasp: See “Bar.” Also used for the fastening mechanism on a medal ribbon or on belt/pouch equipment.
• Cloth badge: A badge made from embroidered or printed fabric, worn on uniforms. Includes formation signs, shoulder titles, trade badges, and qualification patches.
• Collar badge (collar dog): Small badges worn in pairs on the collar of a uniform jacket, typically bearing the regimental crest.
• Condition: The degree of wear, damage, or deterioration of an item. Key value determinant. Common condition grades: mint, EF (extremely fine), VF (very fine), fine, good, fair, poor.
• Copy: A reproduction made from a mould taken from a genuine original. Copies are generally identifiable by softer detail, different weight, and casting marks (cf. “Reproduction,” “Fake”).
• Court-mounted: Medals mounted side-by-side (rather than overlapping) on a bar for wear — the correct mounting style for British military medals at court functions.

D

• DCM: Distinguished Conduct Medal — the second-highest gallantry award for other ranks (below the VC), instituted 1854, discontinued 1993.
• Deactivated (deac): A firearm that has been permanently rendered incapable of firing by an approved method. UK deactivation standards are defined by the Home Office; post-2016 standards (EU compliant) are significantly more rigorous than pre-1995 specifications.
• Die-struck: The standard manufacturing method for genuine military badges and medals — metal is stamped between hardened steel dies under extreme pressure. Produces sharp detail and distinctive die-struck characteristics.
• Diorama: A three-dimensional historical scene using model figures, terrain, and militaria, popular for museum and collector displays.
• DSO: Distinguished Service Order — a level of gallantry/meritorious service decoration typically awarded to officers, instituted 1886.
• Dug-up: An item recovered from the ground, typically by metal detecting. Dug-up items show characteristic earth-related damage — pitting, corrosion, loss of detail. Their legal status depends on location and reporting under the Treasure Act 1996.

E

• Economy badge: A badge made from non-standard materials (plastic, fibre, zinc) due to wartime metal shortages, primarily WWII. Economy badges are collectable in their own right.
• EF (Extremely Fine): A condition grade indicating minimal wear — well above average for the age of the item, with virtually all original detail intact.
• Embossed: Decoration raised from the surface by pressing from behind. Seen on cartridge boxes, belt plates, and decorative metalwork.
• Entitlement: The medals a service person was eligible to receive based on their service record. Research via medal rolls confirms entitlement.
• Ephemera: Paper and documentary items: letters, postcards, photographs, paybooks, service documents, ration cards, maps.

F

• Facing colour: The distinctive colour used on the collars, cuffs, and turnbacks of regimental uniforms. Each regiment had a specified facing colour (blue, yellow, green, buff, white, etc.).
• Fake: A reproduction or altered item deliberately misrepresented as genuine for financial gain. Distinguished from an honest “reproduction” sold as such.
• Field service cap (FS cap): A soft side-cap with fold-down sides, standard issue in various patterns from WWI through to modern times. Also called a “side cap” or “fore-and-aft cap.”
• Fire-gilding: An early method of gold-plating using mercury amalgam. Produces a distinctive warm gold finish found on high-quality pre-Victorian militaria.
• Flash: Excess metal left on a badge from the die-striking process. On genuine badges, flash is filed off during finishing. Presence of unfinished flash can indicate a reproduction.
• Formation sign: A cloth badge identifying a military formation (division, brigade, corps, army). Colourful geometric or pictorial designs worn on the upper arm.
• Fuller: A groove running along the length of a sword or bayonet blade, reducing weight without sacrificing strength. Often incorrectly called a “blood groove.”

G

• Gallantry award: A decoration granted for bravery in action, as distinct from campaign medals (for service) or long-service awards. British examples: VC, GC, DSO, MC, DCM, MM, DFM, CGM.
• GC: George Cross — the highest civilian gallantry award and equal in rank to the VC. Instituted 1940.
• Glengarry: A boat-shaped cap without a peak, part of Scottish military dress. Cap badges on glengarries are often smaller or of different pattern to other headdress badges.
• Gorget: A crescent-shaped metal ornament worn at the throat by officers. Originally protective armour, it survived as a rank insignia into the Victorian era.
• Group: A set of medals mounted together as awarded to a single individual. A “group” is more valuable than the same medals separated because it preserves the service narrative.

H

• Hallmark: A series of punched marks on silver or gold items confirming metal purity and identifying the assay office, maker, and date. Useful for dating silver badges, gorgets, and mess items.
• Helment plate: A large ornamental badge worn on the front of a helmet, particularly Victorian-era home service helmets. Often elaborate and highly collectable.
• Hilt: The handle assembly of a sword, comprising guard, grip, and pommel.

I–K

• Impressed: Characters (letters, numbers) stamped into metal using individual punches. The standard method for naming British campaign medals from the 19th century onwards.
• Issued: An item that was officially manufactured and distributed for military use, as distinct from a pattern (prototype) or a commercial/private-purchase item.
• KC/QC: King’s Crown / Queen’s Crown. The type of crown on a badge identifies the reigning monarch at the time of manufacture: KC (Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, Charles III); QC (Elizabeth II). A crucial dating aid.
• Kukri: The distinctive curved fighting knife of the Gurkhas, with a characteristic notch (kaura) at the base of the blade. Military-issue kukris bear government markings.

L–M

• Lug: A metal projection on the back of a badge used for attachment, bent over behind the headdress to secure the badge. Two-lug and three-lug fixings are common.
• MC: Military Cross — gallantry award for officers (and from 1993, all ranks), instituted 1914.
• Medal roll: The official record of who was entitled to a particular medal. Medal rolls are the primary tool for verifying the authenticity of a named medal.
• Mentioned in Despatches (MiD): A commendation for meritorious service, denoted by an oak leaf device on the campaign medal ribbon.
• Mess dress: Formal evening dress worn by officers and senior ranks at regimental dinners and social functions. Characterised by short jackets and elaborate facings.
• MM: Military Medal — gallantry award for other ranks, instituted 1916, discontinued 1993.
• Mounted: Medals arranged on a wearing bar in the correct order of precedence. “Court mounted” (flat, side-by-side) or “swing mounted” (hanging freely).

N–P

• Named: A medal bearing the recipient’s name, number, rank, and unit. Named medals are significantly more valuable than unnamed examples because they can be researched and attributed.
• NCO: Non-commissioned officer. Corporals and below are “other ranks” (OR); lance-corporals through warrant officers are NCOs or SNCOs.
• Numeral (shoulder title): A metal number worn on the shoulder strap identifying a numbered battalion or regiment.
• OMRS: Orders and Medals Research Society — the principal UK society for medal collectors and researchers.
• OR: Other rank — any soldier who is not an officer.
• Ordnance stamp: A government marking applied to items accepted into military service, typically including the broad arrow and date.
• Patina: The surface colouring and texture that develops on metal over time through oxidation and handling. Genuine patina is a key authentication indicator and should never be removed.
• Pattern (badge or weapon): A designation indicating the official design specification, e.g., “Pattern 1907 bayonet,” “1878 pattern Glengarry badge.”
• Pip: Colloquial term for the rank stars worn by junior officers. One pip = second lieutenant, two = lieutenant, three = captain.
• Provenance: The documented history of ownership of an item. Strong provenance (e.g., purchased directly from the family) greatly enhances an item’s value and authenticity.
• Puggaree: A cloth band wound around a pith helmet or slouch hat, sometimes bearing a regimental flash or badge.

Q–S

• QSA: Queen’s South Africa Medal 1899–1902 — the principal Boer War campaign medal, with up to 26 clasps denoting specific actions.
• Rattler: Slang for a re-struck or copy badge that “rattles” (sounds different when dropped) compared to a genuine die-struck example.
• Re-strike: A badge or medal struck from original (or re-cut) dies at a later date. Re-strikes from original dies are collectable, though less valuable than period-produced examples.
• Reproduction: A copy of an original item, made for display, re-enactment, or educational purposes. Distinguished from a “fake” by honest intent — a reproduction sold as such is legitimate.
• Sabretache: A flat leather case suspended from a cavalry officer’s sword belt, often elaborately decorated with regimental insignia. A prized collector’s item.
• Sam Browne belt: A leather belt with an over-the-shoulder strap, standard officers’ equipment from the late 19th century onwards.
• Serge: A heavy twilled wool fabric used for standard military uniforms, particularly in khaki (British Army) and blue (RAF).
• Shako: A peaked cylindrical military cap, standard British infantry headdress in various patterns from the early 19th century to the 1870s.
• Shoulder title: A metal or cloth badge worn on the shoulder indicating regiment or unit. Metal shoulder titles are widely collected.
• Slider: A flat metal blade soldered to the back of a badge, used to slide through a slot in the headdress. The commonest fixing on pre-WWII badges.
• Staybrite: Anodised aluminium badges (and the brand name of the principal manufacturer, J.R. Gaunt). Introduced from the late 1950s to replace traditional brass and white metal badges that required polishing.
• Sweetheart brooch: A small, often jewelled, badge made in the shape of a regimental insignia, given by soldiers to their sweethearts. Usually of higher quality and different construction from issue badges.

T–Z

• TF / Territorial: Territorial Force (pre-1921) or Territorial Army (1921–2014). Many badges exist in “T” variants with additional “T” designation for Territorial battalions.
• Trio (1914–15 Star trio): The three-medal group commonly awarded for WWI service: 1914 Star or 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal. Also known as “Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred.”
• Undress: A less formal order of military dress, worn for routine duty rather than parade. Undress badges and accoutrements are typically simpler than full-dress equivalents.
• VC: Victoria Cross — the highest British gallantry award, instituted 1856. The most valuable item in militaria collecting.
• VF (Very Fine): A condition grade indicating light overall wear with most original detail remaining.
• Voided: A badge design where certain areas are cut away, leaving an open pattern. The cross of a voided badge shows as an outline rather than a solid shape.
• Volunteer: Pre-1908 part-time military forces, predecessors of the Territorial Force. Volunteer badges are generally less common than Regular Army equivalents.
• Webbing: Woven cotton or nylon load-carrying equipment: belts, pouches, packs, slings. Major British patterns include 1908 webbing, 1937 pattern, 1944 pattern, and 1958 pattern (PLCE).
• WD: War Department — the pre-1964 governmental body responsible for the British Army. WD stamps and markings are found on enormous quantities of military equipment.
• Wolseley helmet: A pith (or later cork/fibre) sun helmet used in tropical service, named after Sir Garnet Wolseley. A common collector’s item, particularly in WWI and WWII examples.