I’m trying to provide suppliers of banners with correct specifications in a bid to reduce the number of units purchasing really random (and incorrect) unit banners.
I count my own unit among them — we previously spent good money on a ceremonial banner and the badge is incorrect…
Units spend a lot on these, so it’s important to me that they’re able to spend that money with confidence.
I’d be grateful if people could post known banner suppliers here so I can make contact with as many as possible and tell them what our units need, rather than leaving units to fumble around and be offered close approximations.
I know that NewtonNewton is an incredibly high-quality, responsible, and responsive supplier that takes great pride in making sure they offer exactly what units need, but as we can’t mandate a supplier, I want to ensure as many bases are covered as is possible to prevent wasted money should a unit go elsewhere.
Help fleshing out a contact list would be gratefully received!
Based on who the RBL have recommended in the past, the list is
Newton & Newton
AA Flags
Newton & Newton have been known as the Rolls Royce for banners/Standards and you have already identified, AA Flags I have only seen in the RBL Ceremonial Handbook - but they do show ATC and ACF Standards on their website
Ideal, I have been trying to figure out this conundrum for a number of years…
I’ve been floating about in one capacity or another since 2009. When I first came into the organisation all of the Banners were of a fairly similar make and look, and were (or at least appeared to be) higher quality. These days there really doesnt seem to be a set standard past the vague descriptions given in the ATC Banner Orders, in practice this seems to have opened the floodgates for companies like Cadet Direct (among others) to take a stab at it and unfortunately it has ended with a large number of either mixed quality or just plain incorrect examples out there.
Of late if asked to provide advice on the topic, I lean more towards renovating the pike and accessories if a banner its self is salvageable or just requires a little bit of TLC, purely because getting something of the same standard is not practical or just unacheivable. It would be incredibly helpful to see a difinetive list of what is correct and reliable, even a teired list of affordable vs highest quaility would be nice to see what a squadron who really wants to invest in their banner can work towards.
Lately, I’ve used The Marching Band Shop (TMBS) to procure various belts and gloves, even going as far as to procure a set of brass hardware to renew our pike, unfortunately finding a capenter/joiner to turn down a shaft to fit has been a bigger challenge (this is the current recommendation from the chap at TMBS). I even went as far as to generate an engineering drawing (will upload as reply) to gather some quotes, but as of yet it’s not bourne any fruit.
More than happy to help with this, having some official specifications would go a long way I suspect. I’ve just had a gander at the RAFAC Badging Policy document, and something similar to that proof would be entirely possible.
I can only imagine that half the battle will be getting the relevant parties decide on and physically nail the specification to the preverbial wall going forward.
Theres also some contradictory information regarding the use of the new “Authorised Badges”. This badging policy clearly says you can have it on your banner in place of the ATC crest, however the Unit Banners page on RAFAC Badges & Hereldy SharePoint both tells you that squadrons may only have their Authorised Badge on a second banner only to be paraded along side the default ATC badged banner, and points you towards the “Standing Orders for The Banner of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets & Rules for Local Banners” which on page 12 gives its own specs.
