This crest was provided by John Clark, Barrie, Ontario. It's a reproduction of the one designed by the crew in 1943.

The first attempt at putting the artwork on felt produced a painted effort on thin felt which was not too attractive. John gave a copy to the IROQUOIS Association and it should be in their official scapbook. A second attempt resulted in an attractive crest in felt layers. There are a number still in existence and both John Clark and Tom Ingham have one in their possession. The only changes are to the head of the Indian, the details of which were lost in copying it from the original artwork to the felt painting. The colours are now closer to the original crest which faded considerably in the last 50 years. John figured it was time to refurbish and maybe preserve a little of our history. Tom Ingham is the only crew member who has seen this revived crest, so it will be interesting to note any remarks from other shipmates of G89. The word ONGWANONSIONNI on the crest means "we of the long house" in reference to a type of Indian shelter made from a frame of lashed branches and covered with bark.

217 era jacket patch. (Submitted by Kerry Setter)

This is how the badge looks today. (Courtesy RCN)

BLAZON: Orange- the head of an Iroquois brave, couped at the base of the neck, properly coloured and wearing two eagle feathers in his hair and a gold ring pendant from the ear.

SIGNIFICANCE: In 1942, a Commanding Officer of this ship initiated steps to procure a badge for the ship. This resulted in the making of an unofficial one in the shape of a shield which bore the head of an Iroquois brave, with his peculiar cox-comb hair-do, ring in ear and war paint. It was taken from a painting by the late J.C. Jeffries and contrary to the usual procedure in heraldry, it faced the right as one looked at it. After WWII, a definite policy regarding ship's badges was laid down by the RCN. As a result, it was approved that the head of an Iroquois facing the opposite direction to that of the original badge would be used for reasons of sentiment and appropriateness.

BATTLE HONOURS : Atlantic 1943
                                     Arctic 1943-45
                                     Biscay 1943-44
                                     Norway 1945
                                     Korea 1952-53

For more information about the ship's badge, please refer to the article "A Badge Comes Home" in the Stories section of this web page.
 
 

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March 11/06