RSPB Save the Birds badges

RSPB Save the Birds badges span late-1960s first issues through later reissues, with YOC (Young Ornithologists’ Club)-marked examples generally rarer and more prized by collectors.

Background 🕊️

Save the Birds badges are small pins and button badges produced to promote bird protection, recruit members and raise funds for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Early examples (late 1960s–1970s) are celluloid-over-tin buttons featuring simple bird motifs and the slogan “Save the Birds.” From the 1990s the charity expanded into enamel pin series with standardised species names and branded backing cards for collectors.

Standard Save the Birds badges 🐦

The standard RSPB issues were part of broad membership and fundraising activity. Typical designs featured familiar garden birds such as robin, blackbird or blue tit, often in a simple two-colour print. These were widely available at reserve stalls, school events and via mail order, so they remain relatively common on the second-hand market and are an accessible entry point for new collectors.

YOC Save the Birds badges 🪶

YOC badges were produced in smaller numbers specifically for youth members. Launched in 1965, the YOC was the RSPB’s youth wing and used membership ephemera — including badges — to give young people a tangible identity as budding conservationists. YOC-marked badges often use the same bird artwork as standard issues but carry the extra lettering or credit. Because of their limited distribution to club members, YOC examples are noticeably rarer today.

History and dates 📜

First “Save the Birds” buttons appear in the late 1960s (c.1967–1970), with production continuing through the 1970s. The YOC variants were issued from the late 1960s into the early 1980s alongside the club’s youth activities. During the 1980s and 1990s the RSPB developed more formal enamel pin programmes, and from 1997 onwards the charity established a regular national pin series (bittern, puffin, red kite among the first modern species releases). Reissues of earlier artwork appeared intermittently from the 1980s into the 2000s, often with updated colouring or typography.

Distribution 📦

Badges were sold or given out at reserve open days, membership tables, school visits and YOC meetings. Volunteers used them as low-cost fundraising items and welcome tokens for new members. Because the designs featured accessible species, they worked across ages: children wore them with pride and adults wore them as quiet statements of care.

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