Logos and badges of NFWI

The concept of the ‘logo’ was unknown in the early days of the WI. However from the beginning WI members wanted to have a badge. Only a few months after the first WI in Britain was formed at Llanfairpwll the committee minutes record that at themeeting on January 15th 1916it was:

Proposed by Mrs Cotton, seconded by Mrs WE Jones, That the proposed badge for the Institute be the same as the Canadian one, England and Wales, with local symbols; the Dragon or the Leek in red and gold be the one adopted for Wales.

The Canadian badge, which had been designed for the first WIs in Ontario by Miss Laura Rose (and is still the badge of the Federated Institutes of Ontario), showed a monogram of WI, maple leaves and the motto For Home and Country.

We are not totally sure what the first Britishbadge looked like, but there was a Welsh version with the dragon replacing the monogram and the motto in welsh.

On the cover of the 1918 annual report the Welsh dragon is four times the size of the rose and the maple leaf

In the first edition of Home and Country in March 1919 Fatorini and Sons Ltd advertised as:

‘the official makers of the Women’sInstitute badges, Welsh Women’s Institute badges and exhibition awards.

The badge that they sold from 1919 for many years was one with the monogram in the centre and For Home and Country round the outside, a rose on one side and a maple leaf on the other. Mostly they were in gilt with For Home and Country in gold on a green enamel background, therose on left in red enamel and the maple leaf on right is also red enamel

Some ofthese badges were made in gold (as shown above). In 1922 Fattorini advertised that they could supply them in 9ct gold for 21/-; 15 ct gold for 35/- and 18ct for 45/-. The gold badges were often presented to people to thank them for special service.

During the 1930s on NFWI publications there were various designs used. For example the printed labels for preserves had a monogram and roses.

In 1953 there were some Woodcuts specially designed by Reynolds Stone CBE for The History of the Women’s Institute Movement written by Inez Jenkins.On the cover was a WI monogram with roses, and the chapter headings had Roundels with other designs- the Isle of Man three legs, three lions, a leek and a rose.

The monogram from the cover was subsequently used on Handbook and Annual Reports until the end of the 1960s.

In the 1970s the WI badge was ‘modernised’, and a square badge with a simple monogram in red and For Home and Country at top and bottom was produced and a more simple monogram used on publications. The badge was never popular with members and only had a limited life.

badge

logo used on publications

When WI Books was registered in 1977 the Tree logo was designed specially for it. NFWI liked this design so much that they agreed to adopt its use not just for WI Books but for all of NFWI.It was felt at the time that the tree reflected the WI’s rural origins and also represented the three fold nature of the organisation – local federation and national. This was the first time that NFWI agreed a ‘logo’ rather then a badge, and gave instructions to all the Federations about its use, including the exact shade of green to be used in printing.

Ever since then the tree logo has been used although it has been through a number of ‘makeovers’

There have been a variety of badges produced using the tree logo, in enamel, silver (shown) gold and the special one for 2000 in silver with amethysts. Subsequently this was modified, leaving off the amethysts it has become a special badge for Presidents.

The logo now in use

Finally, not to be confused with the above, there is also the NFWI coat of arms

The NFWI Coat of Arms, awarded to the National Federation in 1975 to mark its Golden Jubilee, was designed by J P Brooke-Little, MVO, MA, FSA, Richmond Herald at Arms.

He described the heraldry:The Bar Dancetty and the Pallet are ancient heraldic charges which happily form the letters WI. The pierced suns are a pun on Lady Denman’s maiden name of Pearson and also they are symbols of education, energy and light. The lion in the crest is quartered in the Welsh colours and may be taken to represent England and Wales. It is hardly necessary to state why it holds a distaff. The heron supporters were thought to be elegant symbols of the countryside and are associated with all the elements, as they fish in the water, nest on the land and fly in the air. To distinguish them from other herons, they stand among reeds.

The coat of arms is used on the badges for the NFWI Board of Trustees

In February 1989 Home and Country included a special offer of an embroidery kit for the coat of arms

Other Badges

NFWI has also had some badges for particular offices and also The Guild of Learners in the 1920s ands 1930s had special badges, with ribbon attached to pin on more as the person gained ‘proficiency’ badges in various crafts e.g. gloving, smocking….

Guild of Learners Badge with a bar showing proficiency in gloving

Produce Guild badges with pins showing proficiency in preserves and gardening

There have also been badges for special occasions, the most recent being the 90th anniversary of the WI movement celebrated in 2005

Federation badges

The first Federation to be formed was Sussex in 1917. The Federations design their own badges, and again some of these have changed over the years. After local Government reorganization in 1974 many Federations were realigned to fit in with the new county boundaries and some new Federations were formed, e.g. Avon,Humberside, Cleveland, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire East and North Yorkshire West, West Yorkshire and East Yorkshire. These new Federations designed their own new badges.

There is a display at DenmanCollege of all the current Federation badges

Anne Stamper

Hon Archivist NFWI

22 October 2003

revised 27/03/2009

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