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Various cultural practices converged to bring about the pilgrim badge. Pilgrims had long sought natural souvenirs from their destination to commemorate their trip and bring home some of the site's sanctity. The earliest and still iconic pilgrim 'badge' was the scallop shell worn by pilgrims to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela.
The Camino de Santiago (Latin: Peregrinatio Compostellana, lit. ' Pilgrimage of Compostela '; Galician: O Camiño de Santiago), [1] or in English the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried.
Usually medieval Christian pilgrim badges were metal pin badges - most famously the shell symbol showing the wearer had been to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. These were stuck in hats or into clothing and hardworking pilgrims could assemble quite a collection, as mentioned by Chaucer in his 'Canterbury Tales'.
William Lambarde, in his 1570 book, Perambulation of Kent, describes how the Rood was created by an English carpenter taken prisoner by the French in order to ransom himself. According to various reports, the Rood was able to move, shed tears, foam at the mouth, turn and nod its head, and make various facial expressions.
For example, in America, police officers' badges refer to their personal metal emblem whereas their woven emblems on uniforms identify members of a particular unit. A real or metal cockle shell, the emblem of James the Great, sewn onto the hat or clothes, identified a medieval pilgrim to his shrine at Santiago de Compostela.
The University of Aberdeen holds seven badges among which are examples of badges from Old Aberdeen and from across the north east of Scotland. Probably the finest example of a beggars badge is held at the National Museum in Edinburgh. It is a royal bedesmen badge inscribed "Pass and Re-Pass".
Way of St. James pilgrims with pilgrim's staffs (1568) The coat of Arms of Bever, Switzerland, featuring a pilgrim with a staff. A pilgrim's staff or palmer's staff is a walking stick used by Christian pilgrims during their pilgrimages, like the Way of St. James to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Spain or the Via Francigena to Rome.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department badge. A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fire), a sign of legitimate employment or student status, or as a simple means of ...