Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Stainless steel 'UK' badge

I have been trying to find a stainless steel ‘UK’ badge for the back of my Roadster to replace the ‘GB’ badge, now frowned upon in France. There is one on FleaBay but it is too small and in an odd font.

I have found a manufacturer who will make me one, but I don’t have a price yet - I will post the price when I find out. The letters would each be 85mm tall and 55mm wide, and self adhesive.

If any TMers are interested the details are:

Jack Greenway, Sales Manager
Badges Plus Limited
70 Summer Lane
Birmingham B19 3NG
Tel: 0121 236 1612
Web: www.badgesplus.co.uk

I have no financial interest in this company, other than the hope that the unit price might fall with increased orders.

I cheated. I fitted a UK stick on badge to the reverse of my stainless GB badge and turned it round. It doesn’t look quite as smart but it does for me.

I may have mislead slightly on what I am trying to order. I want individual stainless letters to stick on the back of my car, and not a complete badge.

Is there any particular reason why we should allow ourselves to be concerned about what politicians from the European Union dictate we should use as an abbreviated reference for our own nation? Both UK and GB are well understood abbreviations for more or less the same thing, with the exception of the United Kingdom including Northern Ireland.

More specifically the United Kingdom is a sovereign nation spread across multiple islands on the coast of northwestern Europe consisting of the countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland; while Great Britain is a large island on which most of England, Scotland, and Wales are located. I appreciate strictly speaking Great Britain is a land mass and not a country, but if the purpose of the badge is to identify where the vehicle is registered, arguing that displaying GB does not serve this purpose is at best rather pedantic as the number plate and even the position of the steering wheel serves this purpose perfectly well.

For the record the word Britain comes from Latin Britannia lit meaning 'land of the Britons', the Romans started using this name having learnt it from the ancient Greeks in the Hellenistic period, and contrary to popular belief the the preface 'Great' wasn't added during our colonial days as some sort of arrogant definition to identify ourselves as ‘Great’, it was added to Britannia way back in the twelfth century to distinguish the island of Britannia Maior (Greater Britain) from Britannia Minor (Lesser Britain). In summary, the term Great Britain is far from new, and the Britain part of it was actually given to us by an occupying force from Italy who borrowed it from the Greeks, you can't get more European Union friendly than that!

What I've noticed having driven Monty through France a few times now is our French friends absolutely love a Morgan, they seem to really appreciate the romance of them and I strongly suspect the average French citizen couldn't give two hoots if we display a GB or UK, as for sure both leave no question where the car hails from.

Personally I will continue to display GB as I've always done, a Morgan is a classic car with styling from an age where a GB would have always been displayed during continental touring. Showing UK therefore simply looks wrong as it’s not period correct, I'm also confident the French police have a lot more to worry themselves with than enforcing such a minor pedantic rule created by small minded unelected politicians.

Actually the French themselves have a proud tradition of challenging authority which I have huge respect for, it seems by contrast us Brits have a culture of doing what we're told, and ridiculously this now includes changing our charming period Morgan GB badges for an inappropriate UK badge, and just because someone in authority has told us to!

Just to be clear, it was our own nation that instigated the change.

I hope you speak French fluently as you may have to explain your chauvinism to a gendrame. The penalty for not displaying a 'UK' plate is a fine of up to €135 and impounding your car until a valid plate is fitted.

I do wonder if similar to law in the UK relative to vehicle registration, that older vehicles in the EU might be exempt from the latest updates in regs, thus perhaps a GB plate might be acceptable on the likes of my old Mog.... Perhaps pictured below.... Also just to add, yeah I hope Neil the polisher is not reading this, as the pic clearly identifies a degree of patina I would never have tolerated in years past..(-:

To avoid confusion I have no heightened nationalist tendencies, be they Scottish or GB related, I liked the idea of the EU as a basic concept.. The Ecosse bumper sticker then...? Well as ever seeking to utilise whatever advantage might be found when travelling, and as history has been mentioned, the sticker might just curry favour with any French police history buffs who remember The Auld Alliance.. utilised while touring there back circa 2002 when attending le Mans 24 hrs and touring around bit of Normandy....(-:

Been stopped twice at the roadside by the police in France, once for a check on the vehicle papers and passports, on a village backroad by machine gun toting police, and the other at a payage approaching the entry point for a breathalyser check, as it was apparently a National holiday and thus reason enough for French folk to drink and drive..??

'UK' badges are mandatory throughout France, Spain and other EU countries, without reference to rhe age of the vehicle (or driver).

See: https://driveblog.co.uk/france/do-i-need-a-uk-sticker-driving-in-france/