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The Story of the Shield
Metal shields were worn as badges by Salvationists in the early 1880s, and the first Orders and Regulations for Field Officers, 1886, pp222-223, encouraged every Soldier to wear uniform, 'even if it be but the wearing of a shield', so that they could be identified as Salvationists.
The Sign of the Shield
During the First World War, a shield symbol came into use on Salvation Army huts for servicemen. A picture of a hut with a shield sign appeared in The War Cry, 25 December 1915, p1, and an article on 'Homes and Huts for Soldiers and Sailors', in The War Cry, 1 July 1917, p1, said: 'The Salvation Army Shield has become one of the best known and most prominent signs in the military training camps in this country and in the various Overseas Dominions, as well as among the troops in France.' There was a description of the shield in a special Naval and Military Number of All the World, July 1917, p317: 'It is a large shield on enamelled sheet iron with a blood red background'. All the pictorial evidence indicates that at that time the sign had red lettering on a white shield, with a red surround. At the Heritage Centre, we have an embroidered postcard with a similar shield, which probably dates from the same period.
It is not clear when the design changed to white lettering on a red background. We have illustrations of several different shields in use towards the end of the First World War, or immediately after the War, but they are difficult to date precisely.
The Red Shield Club
At the end of the First World War, The War Cry, 10 August 1918, p5, col.1, announced that a new organization known as the 'Red Shield Club' was to be created for Salvationist servicemen around the world, with its headquarters in London.
A Deed Poll, signed by General Bramwell Booth (27 January 1919) declared that the Naval and Military Homes would in future be known as 'The Salvation Army Red Shield Homes, or Clubs'. However, in the British Territory, the name did not actually change until after April 1947 when the Naval, Military and Air Force League was renamed the Red Shield Services League, and the Naval and Military Homes became known as 'Red Shield Services League Hostels'.
After the end of the Second World War, the War Emergencies Department was renamed the British Red Shield Services Department in September 1945.
The archives at the Heritage Centre are open to visiting researchers, by appointment, Tuesday-Thursday, 9.30am - 3.30pm. [Telephone 0207 737 3327 for an appointment.] There is a fee of £5 per ½ day for researchers who come to do their own research, and £5 an hour for research undertaken by our staff. We charge 20 pence a page for photocopies (25 pence a page by post).
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