The principle of awarding medals for long service and good conduct to uniformed forces is long established in the United Kingdom. Such medals were instituted in 1830 for the Royal Navy and the Army, and for the Royal Air Force shortly after its formation in 1918. In comparison with the armed services there was not really a coherent ‘fire service’ until the National Fire Service (NFS) was created in 1941.

From early in the 19th Century up to the late 1930s there had gradually evolved more than a thousand local authority fire brigades varying widely in size and organisation. Recognition of long service and good conduct of members, where it was recognised at all, was achieved in various ways, depending upon the type of brigade.

In police brigades the members formed part of the police force of the employing authority. The fire brigade staff were ‘sworn-in’ as police constables, but were employed either wholly or partly on fire brigade duties, which in some brigades included staffing the emergency ambulances. Typical police brigades were Liverpool and Stockport, as were many of the larger towns and cities in the country. Other local authority brigades were quite independent of the police force. Such brigades could consist of full-time paid members, or part-time volunteers, or a mixture of both. The largest non-police brigade was the <cityw:ston><placew:ston>London Fire Brigade. An unusual case was provided by the City of <cityw:ston><placew:ston>Manchester which was a non-police brigade from 1843 to 1886 and 1898 to 1920, and a police brigade from 1886 to 1898 and 1920 to 1941.

The award of the long service medals to this multiplicity of brigades was quite complicated. Some local authorities issued their own medals for service varying between 15 and 25 years, sometimes with bars for further periods of 5 or 10 years. Others relied upon the medals issued by two fire brigade associations, which they either granted to their members, or permitted their members to wear. There were some local authorities who did not issue or grant any medals at all.

Of the numerous medals issued by local authorities, probably the best documented are those of the <cityw:ston><placew:ston>London County Council. In 1883 a bronze medal for long service was instituted by the LCC/Metropolitan Fire Brigade (which became the <cityw:ston><placew:ston>London Fire Brigade in 1904). This highly prized medal, worn on a watered yellow ribbon, was awarded for fifteen years unblemished service. Its official name was the LCC Medal for Zeal and Fidelity; unofficially and affectionately its ribbon was called 'The Yellow Peril’. The medal continued to be issued until 1954.

Fire Brigade Association Medals

Instead of providing their own long service medals some local authorities relied on the medals of fire brigade associations. The first of these was the National Fire Brigades Union (NFBU). This was not a ‘trades’ union, but rather a ‘union’ of fire brigades, and was inaugurated in 1887. In 1919 it changed its name to the National Fire Brigades Association (NFBA). The NFBU issued bronze medals for ten years service with bars for each additional five years and in 1907 a silver medal for twenty years service was introduced. The NFBU medals were worn on a maroon coloured ribbon. Between about 1916 and 1919, the ribbon of the silver medal carried a narrow central white stripe. These medals were continued after the change of name, although the ribbons were changed to equal stripes of scarlet, dark blue and scarlet, separated by narrow gold stripes.


The second association was formed in 1902 as the Association of Professional Fire Brigade Officers of the British Empire; the name was changed in 1920 to the Professional Fire Brigades Association (PFBA). This association also awarded long service medals to its members It is thought that the first medal, in bronze, was awarded for five years service, with bars for ten and fifteen years service. Later, silver medals were introduced and very possibly replaced the bronze medals, although this point is not clear. The medals were worn on ribbons consisting of stripes of blue/grey, white and scarlet. They had to be purchased by the recipients or their employers.

In 1949 the NFBA and the PFBA amalgamated to form the British Fire Services Association (BFSA). Service in either the NFBA or the PFBA could count towards the BFSA Long and Efficient Service Medals. The medals are awarded in bronze for ten years and in silver for twenty years service, with bronze and silver bars for each additional five years service. Although a member may eventually qualify for both the bronze and silver medals, only one can be worn. The same ribbon is used for either medal and consists of approximately equal stripes of grey, red and grey, the colours being separated by narrow stripes of black and white. The BFSA long service medals have to be purchased by the recipients.


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