If unsure, ask badge officer to take a look.
He can probably suggest someone who could do a free or very very low cost redesign IF needed.
Sqns DONT have to go the whole hog and splash 500 quid on an Official one. Just have one that meets brand guidelines.
and the 21st in the pipeline 
Yours being designed?
Exciting!
Care to share?
I think weâre just waiting for agreement to do the official drawing with whatâs been discussed about imagery and justification.
Itâs a great process where they try to capture unit history and the surrounding area â and theyâll take suggestions/requests into consideration⌠well, theyâll at least let you have one hand on the wheel with what comes out!
But you canât just go to them and be like âmake us this badge with elephants playing the kazooâ unless for some reason thatâs historically unique/pertinent to your unit of area 
How exciting!
I dont seem to be able to make the forum accept a link or allow download of the Corps badge guidelines⌠not sure why? Pdf issue? Odd.
Could someone else place that here? For everyones reference.
although i canât get as emotional i do agree with Paracetamol if only as as sign of how the Squadron sees itself.
there are bad examples andin my mind, perhaps unfairly, but as âfirst impressionâ indicates they take shortcuts - if they canât comply with a Badge compliance and happy to put this forward as a âbrandâ as their unit, what else are they doing we canât see?
I donât know 211 but looking at the badge it does look like it was lifted from the RAF book of badges. if they are happy to get that right chances are they are doing other things right.
that isnât to say it is a hard and fast rule, but to use C19 as an example:
there are units who have returned and have shared photos online - there are some which show that C19 controls are being followed, but it is the ones who share photos where the guidelines are not being met, or simply clearly being ignored makes me wonder how seriously are they taking the guidelines/rules â if they are willing to share that photo(s) what is going on when the camera isnât pointing the right direction?
I dont either⌠just image googled air cadet badges and it came up.
But youâre 100% correct. First impressions count!
I understand where youâre coming from, but if I, with a fair amount of experience as a cdt and staff in the organisation didnât know what the rules were / that there was a badge officer, what are the chances that Joe Public are actually going to realise a given badge doesnât follow our internal rules? 
Itâs more the effect that having all badges using the same correct template and standardisation would improve the overall Corps branding.
Marginal gains.
i argue that it isnât about knowing does a badge comply with rules, but why the rules are there.
some badges look like they were created using microsoft paint, and others look professional - that first impression counts when units use that image as a profile photo on SM or as a header image to letters back to parents or to VIPs invited to an event.
yeh, I get that 
but, for example, the badge that sparked this discussion looks pretty professional to me, but I didnât know the colours were wrong, that images couldnât cross the central circle, that numbers had to be an indented area, etc
How can Sqns be expected to follow the rules when even regions (cough laser cough) donât?
and I think that is the issue
Nice to have it right but with all the other âinsert adjectiveâ admin tasks I have to do plus look after cadets it sits low on the listâŚ
âŚespecially when I have 30 plus new starters desperate to get through the door as soon as restrictions are lifted
I moved the thread across, because I was about to give my experience of dealing with John Tunesi before remembering that Iâd already done similar and a lot of the discussion points are similarly themed.
Anyone interested in learning about badges, thereâs now a bit more above that might help clarify a few things.
Something I may have missed before, is that when I spoke to him, John didnât really care if you wanted to pay the money and would advise regardless.
If anyone wants something that âlooks properâ and is in line with regs, without going through College of Arms then Iâm sure heâd still give you some pointers.
i guess there is a point where the unapproved/unofficial DIY versions do look very close to acceptable and for those that have marginal errors this is less of an issue but that doesnât make it right.
there is a procedure in place and there for a reason (rightly or wrongly).
if the procedure has a place then adhere to it. if it is wrong or too stiff get it changed as it hasnât kept up with modern practises
but donât just make it up and hope no one will notice - because someone in this organisation will!
Link to the Branding Portal. The Brand Guidelines contain all things badges, their requirements and usage. There are lots of useful resources here people should be aware of.
Very good point.
They should lead from the top.
I didnt even want to get started on wing and regional badgesâŚ
Total cluster.
This is the key thing.
DIY is absolutely fine and frankly to be encouraged to save money.
As long as all the key branding requirements are met!