Nursing organisations
The general nursing councils
The Registration of Nurses Acts 1919, created the General Nursing Councils for England and Wales and for Scotland. The State Register was established in 1921. This resulted in a gradual decrease in the number of nurse training schools in hospitals, and consequently the issuing of badges. Training remained hospital-based until it was phased out as part of the educational reform ‘Project 2000’. Nurse training is now university and college-based.
The GNC offices in London and Edinburgh each issued their own badge with registration until 1983. The Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act of 1979 dissolved these and other registration bodies, replacing them with the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, subsequently renamed the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2002.
Royal College of Nursing
The College of Nursing was founded in 1916. The College’s Charter was granted by the Privy Council in 1928, but the College did not gain the ‘Royal’ title until 1939. The original College badge first issued to members in 1920 had the silver initials ‘C’ and ‘N’ interlocked on a blue background. The ‘R’ was added in 1939 along with a crown on top. For the 1991 75th Jubilee, a reproduction of this badge was created in silver, with the dates 1916-1991. The Presidential Badge was designed and created in 1937. The official College Coat of Arms, granted in 1946, has the Latin motto ‘Tradimus Lampada’ or ‘We hand on the torch’, referring to the ‘Roman’ lamp atop the open book of learning. The shield below the book shows a sun and stars.
In 1963 the College amalgamated with the National Council of Nurses (NCN) - the UK representative body at the International Council of Nurses. The new title became the ‘Royal College of Nursing and National Council of Nurses of the United Kingdom’ until 1975, when the NCN part of the name was dropped. The acronym ‘RCN’ was also introduced during this period.
The Student Nurses Association (established 1925) amalgamated with the RCN in 1969 becoming the College’s Student Section. The Student Nurses Association badge had the initials ‘RCN’ added at the base.
The College stopped issuing the crest badges during the 1980s and 1990s, and instead adopted the interlocking hands logo. It has issued several variations on a rectangular white enamel badge or pin with the hands logo alongside the College name. A reproduction of the crest design is now available to members from RCN Direct.