From 1929 to 1950, Game Wardens wore a uniform with blue epaulettes. After the BC Provincial Police was disbanded the epaulettes and hat band changed to dark green.
The insignia consisted of brass epaulette titles and collar insignia (see badge page). Predatory Animal Hunters did not wear a uniform.
The Game
Commission, as it was known at the time, was overseen by the Attorney General's
Department. Within the Game Commission, the field services component was
known as the Game Department.
I have never seen an example of this very rare shoulder patch.
Game Wardens
in the Wildlife Protection Division (Enforcement) continued to wear the fancy
uniform until 1955 when the patch below was introduced and worn on an
Eisenhower jacket. No patch was worn on the shirt.
The following are two patches issued during the
same period. By this time there was only one Commissioner and there are no
known photos of him ever wearing a uniform. These are extremely rare
patches. There were four Inspectors in charge of Game Divisions. This patch was introduced in 1956 In 1957, the Game Commission became the Fish and
Game Branch, within the Department of Recreation and Conservation.
The felt patches were worn on the jacket and the cloth version on the shirt. Game Wardens were assigned to the Wildlife Protection Division and were the local resident general-duty staff.
Staff in the Predator Control Division were the Predatory Animal Hunters, who dealt with dangerous wildlife and wildlife that was reducing game populations, but they also provided some support to the Game Wardens as required.
In 1961, Game Wardens were renamed Conservation
Officers. These versions were introduced around 1965 and were replaced
approximately 1967. The Fish and Game Branch was renamed the Fish and
Wildlife Branch in 1966. The patch below was never officially worn on duty, except on coveralls,
as it was too small to be sewn over the older versions. It was introduced
in 1992, and some shirts did come with it affixed, but it was immediately replaced
by the "hourglass" version, which was large enough to cover the stitch marks from
the older patches when they were removed. The next six designs were variations that have
been worn on ball caps. The first one was an unofficial version used only
in the Conservation Officer Blazer patches c. 1980-1998 and 1998-2002. Blazers were discontinued in 2002 when the uniform tunic was re-introduced.
The first
shoulder patch was introduced in 1951, along with an "Eisenhower"
type jacket, also known as a battle dress, for use by the Predatory Animal
Hunters.
The Inspector tab was worn below the
felt (jacket) patch sets shown above. Inspectors supervised the Game Wardens in each of
the five Divisions that the province was split into for administrative purposes.
The crests above are not
shoulder patches but were worn on the uniform blazer circa 1962-1966 and
1966-1970. These were worn primarily by Headquarters and Regional office
staff, who had to purchase the blazer with their own funds. Any other
member of the branch could buy one, but few did.
In 1980 the
Conservation Officer Service became a separate branch within the new Ministry
of Environment. They were now assigned the task of conducting enforcement
duties for all of the other Branches, not just Fish and Wildlife. With the new
role, came a distinctive new blue and gray uniform. A "sky" blue shirt was combined with gray pants and a navy blue jacket.
The Ministry underwent a number of name changes over the next 13 years and a
number of different patches were worn.
 
 
1980  
1984 1986
approx. 1991
Un-approved
prototype - 1993
1993 - 2004
Earlier versions had a dark blue
background and were worn on a light blue shirt. Later versions had a dark navy
blue background to better match the LAPD blue shirt they were worn on.
Chief Conservation
Officer's patch - intro'd 2001
A new shoulder patch came into use on June 1, 2004. The centennial tab was added to shirts and the patrol jacket for 2005 and could be worn until the shirt or jacket was no longer serviceable.
A
new ball cap/sweater breast patch was also introduced but its use on the cap
was discontinued after only a few months.
It was replaced by a plain black cap that simply stated
"Conservation Officer" in block letters. This was followed by a navy blue cap with a large badge logo, and the Conservation Officer wording on the rear of the cap, then a version with the Conservation Officer wording embroidered below the large badge - pictures to come