Badges and Insignia

A variety of early British Columbia sheriff badges are known to exist and most known specimens have been documented in the soon to be published book Sheriffs of British Columbia, however the whereabouts of many other badges have yet to be determined. Family members of long deceased sheriffs recall the existence of a badge but are unable to account for its present whereabouts.

A further challenge faced when attempting to document sheriff badges is that not every sheriff or under-sheriff in British Columbia carried a badge. Some sheriffs did not feel they required a symbol of authority in the form of a badge to perform their duties while others did not wish to incur the expense of a badge. In some counties the sheriff issued badges to his under-sheriffs while in other shrievalties the men were not given authorization to carry a badge or were advised they would have to purchase their own if they wanted one. Many sheriff's badges were custom made while others were stock badges purchased from a catalogue.

Blue uniforms were first introduced in 1960 in the Counties of Vancouver and Victoria and bore a custom shoulder patch. In 1975 the newly formed British Columbia Sheriff Services issued brown uniforms to the deputies and but have recently gone back to a blue uniform.

Click here for collection specimens.

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