WW2 Lincolnshire Home Guard; ‘Lincoln imp’ cloth shoulder patches (worn and unworn).

Original badges from a Lincolnshire collection.

Members of units of the Home Guard in Lincolnshire wore one of these pictorial badges on each shoulder in place of the more usual battalion numbers and letters. The printed patches depict the iconic ‘Lincoln Imp’. The material is dyed a duck egg blue-green and overprinted with a brown dye.

The duck egg blue-green becomes a beige colour as sunlight and washing fades the badge. Faded, original badges remain duck egg blue-green on the back.

Based on a little, stone devil perched high in the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral, the imp is still an iconic symbol of Lincolnshire and Lincoln United FC.