The Red Shield
From Sawiki
The first orders and regulations for Field Officers of 1886 encouraged every Salvation Army Soldier to wear uniform, even if it be but the wearing of a shield, so that they could be identified as Salvationists.
During the First World War, a shield symbol was used on Salvation Army huts for servicemen. This shield was probably red lettering on a white background, although this is by no means certain.
It is unclear as to when the design changed to the red shield with white lettering that we know today, but it was probably around the end of the First World War as in 1918 The Red Shield Club was founded for Salvationist servicemen throughout the world.
In 1919 Bramwell Booth declared that the Salvation army Navel and Military Homes would in future be know as 'The Salvation Army Red Shield Homes'. In the United Kingdom Territory the name change did not take place until 1947 when the Navel Military and Air Force League was renamed 'Red Shield Services League Hostels.' In 1945, at the end of the Second World War, the War Emergencies Department was re-named the British Red Shield Services Department.
The symbol of the Salvation Army's Red Shield has become known and respected by service men and women of many nationalities wherever in the world they served.
