Badge Trends?

[momof4girls]

I love the blue enamel on the badges! Everyone of those is simply wonderful. What's the circle disk hanging from the emerald badge represent?

[FleurGirl]

Is that a turquoise badge with blue enamel?! My jaw just hit the floor.

[OleMissGlitter]

OMG. I love those Kappa badges. I think I am in love. WOW!

[AOII Angel]

Those badges are truly wonderful, Lily! Someone really does need to make a badge book for the NPC with badges over the years and a little history of each. So pretty! For the NPCs that don't have any variation, we can include the stories behind their honor badges, like AEPhi's National President's badge.

[AzTheta]

There are NO WORDS. NONE. (coming from an SLP who has way too many words in her vocabulary).

Thank you for finding the photos and sharing them.

And to think you all only did half the collection...

Each and every badge, all that variety, all are gorgeous. I thought of something: IMO, the variety of stones looks so amazing b/c they are all set in gold with nothing to detract or contrast from the stones. No enamel next to the stones, for example. Does that make sense?

[NutBrnHair]

LOVE, love, love the variety of Kappa badges. I'll be in Columbus, OH in April and plan to stop by Kappa HQ and see them for myself.

[thetygerlily]

Oh yes- there are turquoise, opal, ruby, garnet, diamond, pearl, emerald, sapphire... the most intriguing part to me, though, is the intricate gold work! It's amazing what you can do with a lump of gold. Just incredible.

I realized that I duplicated one of the pictures by mistake- the top one in the greens section (OPAL!) is also in the blue enamel section. Eh, you get more views that way.

momoffourgirls- I'll have to double check (or someone here can keep me honest!), but the different dangles hanging from the center of the badge represent Fraternity offices. I believe the circle is Grand President.

Maria- one note of clarification, all the badges I posted photos of are on display at the Heritage Museum. Kappa's HQ also doubles as a Victorian museum and they do give tours! You can see most of the keys on the tour, and the guides are happy to slant the tours to wherever the group's interest lies. So if you are in Columbus, definitely check it out! I'll post some pictures (someday...) in the newish HQ thread too.

Here's information on the Heritage Museum:
Recognized as the finest example of Italianate style architecture in the city of Columbus, Ohio the international Headquarters of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity is located at 530 East Town Street and houses the three rooms that constitute The Heritage Museum.

And here's a blog post about the museum as well- you can see the special Kappa iris our very own Carnation bred!

[honeychile]

I had timed leaving Chicago so that I would hit Columbus before 2pm, thinking I could see the Kappa HQ. Unfortunately, the words "lake effect" have whole new meaning to me now!

Lily, I'm absolutely gobsmacked! Each and every one of those keys are simply lovely, and I really, really, really, really, REALLY want to see them in person! Thank you so very much for sharing them! I'm positively drooling over the diamond key with the stick pin!

[thetygerlily]

More pictures! This time of President badges. Without further ado... Kappa keys!

These two President badges show the New Member Pin as a dangle or guard. Note the diamonds surrounding the new member pin on the left, and the pin is enameled (bad picture & worn away, but you can just make out a gold Sigma in the center). The badge worn by our national President was either the one on the right or a similar one that came soon after, and was retired a few years ago for safe keeping. I believe the new President key also has the new member pin as a guard, but I'm not positive.



Gorgeous red stones on this President badge. This is somewhat similar to how today's award badges and other national officer badges look- they are the large and flat style.



Incredible scrollwork. Note the fleur de lis under the AΩO.

[sky&sea]

Originally Posted by thetygerlily

More pictures! This time of President badges. Without further ado... Kappa keys!

These two President badges show the New Member Pin as a dangle or guard. Note the diamonds surrounding the new member pin on the left, and the pin is enameled (bad picture & worn away, but you can just make out a gold Sigma in the center). The badge worn by our national President was either the one on the right or a similar one that came soon after, and was retired a few years ago for safe keeping. I believe the new President key also has the new member pin as a guard, but I'm not positive.



Gorgeous red stones on this President badge.



Incredible scrollwork. Note the fleur de lis under the AΩO.

These are so incredibly gorgeous. I definitely need to visit Kappa HQ!
The one on the top left...What is the keystone shaped dangle? I've never seen that before.

[nittanygirl]

*GASP*
The Grand President 1926-1930 badge made my jaw drop. It is just gorgeous. Diamonds are my biggest weakness in jewelry and that is beautiful. Ah I'd LOVE to see it in person.
That's one of my favorite badges I've seen on here so far. Just. Wow.

[Gusteau]

Forgive my ignorance Lily, but what is the difference between National President and Grand President?

[thetygerlily]

I'm feeling generous tonight... and don't want to drag this out too long. So here are more badges!


Badges with dangles, national officers of some sort:



This is a closeup of the upper-right key above. This woman is a huge reason we have as much in Kappa archives as we do, and she was incredible in her badge preservation initiatives. If you ever go to Kappa HQ you'll see badge after badge from Chi chapter at University of Minnesota- her chapter. When cataloguing keys in the archives, I was also able to see her initiate badge- a plain gold key. There's something fitting in that,



Another closeup. Not sure about the date or whose it was, but quite the badge.



Some "plain" keys by dates, from 1875-1884. Note that the 1875 key has a stippled effect for engraving rather than using solid lines or enamel.

[thetygerlily]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

Forgive my ignorance Lily, but what is the difference between National President and Grand President?

Just a name change, as far as I know. Nothing too exciting!
ETA- here's some background:

Rheva Ott Shryock was the last of the Grand Presidents (1936-1940); by the end of her second term she had convinced the Fraternity to drop the term “grand,” saying she thought “grand” was archaic, while the simple “president” was both dignified and distinctive. Interestingly, it was the undergraduates, not the alumnae, whom Rheva had to persuade on this issue.

Originally Posted by nittanygirl

*GASP*
The Grand President 1926-1930 badge made my draw drop. It is just gorgeous. Diamonds are my biggest weakness in jewelry and that is beautiful. Ah I'd LOVE to see it in person.
That's one of my favorite badges I've seen on here so far. Just. Wow.

Yes, and it is a very camera shy badge too! We were all trying to get at it from every possible angle and the photos just don't do this badge justice. It's definitely worth a trip

[thetygerlily]

Oh my goodness! How in the world did I miss our FOUNDER's badge?? Well, here I go to rectify that situation.

This is the only one of our Founder's badges we have. Unfortunately (from a historical preservation perspective anyway), it was common to pass your badge on to the next initiate and order a new one. The earliest keys were not engraved so we don't have as much traceability as we'd like. Again the photo does not do it justice- but you can get the idea of how it looks.