The Royal Signals and "Jimmy": The Winged Figure on the Badge

October 1, 2026

The Royal Corps of Signals has one of the most distinctive badges in the British Army and one of the most misidentified. The winged figure at its centre is universally known as "Jimmy", and almost nobody outside the corps can say who he is meant to be.

Who Jimmy actually is

He is Mercury — the Roman messenger of the gods, winged, carrying a caduceus, standing on a globe. For a corps whose entire purpose is passing messages, it is about as apt a choice as classical mythology offers.

The nickname "Jimmy" has no agreed origin, which is usually the mark of genuinely old barrack-room slang. Several explanations circulate within the corps and none is settled. What matters for identification is simply that the figure is Mercury, and once you know that, the badge is unmistakable.

Certa Cito

The motto is Certa Cito, generally rendered as "swift and sure", and it is a precise statement of what a signals organisation is for. A message that arrives quickly but wrong is useless. A message that is correct but late is also useless. Both halves are the job.

A young corps

The Royal Corps of Signals was formed in 1920, which makes it one of the newer parts of the British Army — and the reason is technological. Communication had been handled within the Royal Engineers, but the growth of radio and field telephony during the First World War turned signalling into a specialism large and technical enough to need its own corps.

That 1920 date is a hard floor for collectors: no genuine Royal Signals badge predates it. Anything older belongs to the Royal Engineers signal service that preceded it.

Signaller, not Private

As with the Gunners and the Sappers, the corps uses its own title for its most junior rank: Signaller. It is another of those small distinctions that identifies loose insignia immediately, and another reason British rank slides are more informative than they first appear.

Colours and the corps identity

Royal Signals items frequently carry a distinctive colour combination which appears on stable belts, lanyards, TRFs and badge backings. As with any regiment, once you can recognise the combination you can identify Signals material at a glance without reading anything — which is exactly what the colours are for.

Collecting Royal Signals material

The figure dates the badge. Mercury has been rendered differently across the corps' history, and the pose, the globe and the surrounding elements all shifted. Learn the variants and dating becomes straightforward.
Trade badges are extensive. A technical corps generates a lot of qualification insignia, and Signals trade badges cover a genuinely interesting range of specialisms.
The crown rule applies as everywhere else.
Beware of similar winged figures. Mercury and other winged devices appear on insignia from several countries and several services. A winged figure is not automatically Royal Signals; check for the globe and the caduceus.

Why it is a good collecting area

The corps is large, its material is plentiful, and its badge is one of the few in the British Army that is instantly recognisable to people who know nothing about regiments. It also has a clean start date, which removes an enormous amount of the ambiguity that makes older regiments hard to research.

For someone who wants a collection that looks striking on a board and can actually be catalogued with confidence, Signals is a strong choice.

Despatch riders and the visual identity

Before radio dominated, a great deal of military communication moved by hand, and the despatch rider is one of the enduring images associated with military signalling. Motorcycle despatch work was dangerous, demanding and absolutely essential, and it produced its own equipment, its own insignia and its own folklore.

Items connected to despatch riding — specialist clothing, qualification badges, unit markings — are a distinct and rewarding sub-area for anyone collecting Signals material, and considerably less common than the corps badge.

Why a technical corps produces so much insignia

Signals work is qualification-heavy. Operating, maintaining and repairing communications equipment requires training that is formally assessed and formally recognised, and recognition in the British Army means a badge.

The result is an unusually rich set of trade and qualification insignia covering operating, technical, electronic and specialist roles, each with levels within it. Cap badges are common; the qualification badges are where the depth is, and they tell you what an individual actually did rather than merely which corps they belonged to.

Buying Royal Signals material

Check the globe. Mercury appears on insignia from several countries; the globe and caduceus together are the British Signals combination.
Look at the finish. Anodised, brass, bronzed and embroidered versions all exist and place the item in an era and an order of dress.
The 1920 floor is absolute. Anything genuinely Royal Signals postdates it.
Colours identify at a distance. The corps colour combination on a stable belt, lanyard or backing is often quicker to spot than the badge itself.