Identity and Printing: Badges, Banners and Clothing

Long before a printed t-shirt could say who you are, badges, sashes and banners were doing the same job. One of history's most effective examples happened in Britain — and it's a direct ancestor of the personalised, group-identity clothing we print every week.

The Colours That Built a Movement

In May 1908, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, business manager of the Women's Social and Political Union, chose three colours to give the suffragette movement a single, unmistakable visual identity: purple for dignity, white for purity, and green for hope. Launched publicly at the WSPU's Women's Sunday rally in Hyde Park on 21 June 1908, attended by an estimated 300,000 people, the colours spread rapidly onto sashes, badges, banners, scarves, and eventually a whole range of branded clothing sold through the WSPU's own shop.

A Movement You Could Wear

What made the WSPU's approach so effective wasn't just having colours — it was applying them consistently across every printed and worn object: tin badges, silk scarves embroidered with the tricolour, beaded jewellery, and the weekly newspaper Votes for Women, which explained the symbolism to new supporters. Women too poor to buy anything new tied strips of coloured fabric to their existing clothes. The result was a visually unified movement recognisable at a glance, decades before modern branding existed as a marketing discipline — arguably one of the first examples of a political campaign built on consistent visual identity.

Printed Identity Beyond Protest

The same instinct — using a printed or worn object to say who you are, what you belong to, or what you believe — shows up everywhere: national flags, football shirts, school uniforms, festival wristbands, and branded workwear all do the same job the WSPU's colours did. What's changed is the printing technology, not the underlying human need to make identity visible.

What Modern Printing Adds

DTG and DTF garment printing removed the last real barrier to this kind of identity expression: cost at small scale. Where a Victorian or Edwardian campaign needed to commission dyed fabric and hand-produced badges in bulk, a modern group can put a shared colour, name or symbol onto clothing for a single team, family or cause — no minimum order, full colour at no extra cost. The underlying idea is identical to 1908; only the economics have changed.

Where This Shows Up in What We Print

Group identity through clothing is most of what we do, in one form or another: sports team kit carries club colours and squad identity, hen, stag and wedding printing marks a group for one specific occasion, charity and fundraising shirts signal a shared cause, and school and university printing carries institutional and society identity. Different occasions, same underlying idea the WSPU understood in 1908.

Frequently asked questions

Why did the suffragettes choose purple, white and green?

Purple represented dignity, white represented purity, and green represented hope, a colour scheme chosen by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence in May 1908 and launched at the WSPU's Women's Sunday rally that June.

What printed items carried the suffragette colours?

Badges, sashes, banners, scarves, jewellery, and a wide range of clothing sold through the WSPU's own shop, alongside the weekly newspaper Votes for Women.

How does this connect to modern custom printing?

The same principle, using a printed or worn item to make identity or belonging visible, now applies to sports kit, school and society clothing, hen and stag groups, and charity fundraisers, made affordable at small scale by DTF and DTG printing.

Cloth that was banned: the 1746 Dress Act

Clothing has been treated as a statement of loyalty for far longer than printing has existed, and governments have noticed. The Dress Act of 1746, passed after the Jacobite defeat at Culloden, received royal assent on 12 August 1746. It barred men and boys in Scotland from wearing Highland dress, including the plaid, the little kilt, trews and shoulder-belts, with soldiers and officers of the King's forces exempt. The penalty was six months in prison for a first offence and seven years' transportation for a second. The ban was lifted by the Use of Highland Dress Act 1782. Within two years, Highland gentlemen had formed the Highland Society of Edinburgh, which set out to promote the general use of ancient Highland dress. The lesson was the same one the suffragettes learned: what people wear can say who they are, so it matters enough to be fought over.

A uniform that stayed the same

Institutions use dress to create belonging. Christ's Hospital was established in 1552, with its royal charter following in 1553, and its pupils are still known for long blue coats, knee-breeches and yellow socks. The school has been nicknamed the Blue-coat School because of them. A distinctive outfit worn together turns a crowd of individuals into a visible group.

A flag designed to be sewn

Some identity symbols are explicitly made by hand and then copied. The rainbow flag was designed by Gilbert Baker, working with other activists, and first flown on 25 June 1978 at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. It originally had eight colours. Hot pink was dropped first because pink fabric was hard to find, and in 1979 turquoise went too, and indigo was replaced with blue, leaving the six-colour version that became standard. It is a good reminder that the materials available shape the design, then the design becomes a symbol others adopt.

Flags that combine several identities

The Union Flag in its present form dates from 1801. It layers the crosses of St George for England, St Andrew for Scotland and St Patrick for Ireland into a single design. Whatever anyone thinks about its meaning, it shows how a printed or woven graphic can carry several stories at once. For anyone designing for a group today, the same principle applies: two or three clear elements are easier to recognise than a crowded collage.

Turning an identity into a design that works on fabric

• Pick a limited palette. A shared colour scheme is what makes a group recognisable at a distance. Two or three main colours with one accent are enough.
• Use a name or symbol people already know. A road name, a family surname, a club nickname or a year works better than a long slogan.
• Plan for fabric colour. A white design on a navy garment reads differently from a navy design on white. Tell us the garment colour so we can set the artwork accordingly.
• Decide where it sits. A small chest mark suits a uniform feel. A large back print suits an event or a team name.
• Keep it consistent. If the whole group wears the same design, the effect is stronger than if each person has something slightly different. If names or numbers vary, keep the layout identical.

Matching a group without losing individuality

A group often wants to look alike while still letting people be themselves. A shared front design with a personal name on the back, a sleeve detail or a nickname does both jobs. It is also what many family reunions, hen and stag weekends, and sports sides choose. Our group order guide explains how to collect sizes and names from a larger party without the usual confusion, and the sports kit guide deals with numbers and lettering.

Symbols to be careful with

Not every emblem is free for anyone to reproduce. Official crests, regimental badges, charity logos and commercial brands may be protected. A design that uses your own wording, colours and illustration avoids that trouble. Ask yourself too whether a symbol could be read in a way you did not intend, particularly when it will be worn in public by a lot of people.

Frequently asked questions

Was tartan really banned after Culloden?

Not tartan as cloth in general. The 1746 Act banned men and boys in Scotland from wearing Highland dress, including the plaid and kilt, with exemptions for the King's soldiers. It was repealed in 1782.

Can a small group have its own recognisable look?

Yes. A single consistent colour, a name and one simple symbol are enough. Consistency across everyone in the group matters more than complexity.

How many colours should a group design use?

There is no fixed number, but designs with a clear main colour and one or two supporting ones tend to read best on clothing. Photographs and gradients can be printed, so it is a design choice, not a limit.

Should the whole group wear exactly the same thing?

It depends on the purpose. A uniform feel suits a team or crew, while a shared front print with different back names suits a family or celebration. Tell us what the group is for and we can suggest a layout when you request a quote.