FAQS

Made in the USA - 30 to 35 Business Day Turnaround - Excellent Quality and Customer Service

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

All orders must be received either through direct email, fax, or our online order form. Please use only one of these methods when placing your order to avoid accidental duplication.

Any person not listed in our account information must provide a letter of authorization. Likewise, all personal orders require a letter of authorization signed by the relevant department head. Personal orders must be prepaid by check or credit card. For assistance, please contact your Sales Representative or email us at sales@erbadge.com.

For more information on the specific details that must be included in an order, please see below under “What Information Do I Need on My Order?”

When contacting your Sales Representative, please have your account number ready or provide us with the name of your department or agency. 

To check on the status of an order, please provide your Sales Representative with the relevant order number. Our system does not allow us to search for an order by name or purchase order number. 

Both your order number and account number can be located on the top right hand corner of your Quote, Sales Order, or Invoice.

Please provide your Sales Representative with the following details in writing:

  • The quantity of items
  • The item number(s)
  • The finish
  • The badge attachments 
  • The wording from top to bottom (for badges)

You can also access a customized order form on our Home Page (along the menu bar under Order Forms). The Order Forms contain all the details listed above for you to choose from depending on the item(s) you are looking to order. For more information, please contact your Sales Representative or email us at sales@erbadge.com.

Please Note: If you need your items by a certain date, please let your Sales Representative know at the time you place the order. We offer rushed delivery for an additional fee. Otherwise, most orders are manufactured under our standard 30-35 business day turnaround, while orders with Lucite encasement and die mold tooling are manufactured within 45-55 business days.

Familiarizing yourself with these terms will help you place orders with ease and allow you to verify the accuracy of your order documents.

Carltone: an all-gold finish. Your item will be gold throughout and made entirely of 230 struck brass.

Platiloy: an all-silver finish. Your item will be silver throughout and made entirely of 750 nickel alloy.

Two Tone: a combination finish in which the base (or backing) of your item will be silver, made of 750 nickel alloy, and the panels and seal applied on top will be gold, made of 230 struck brass.

PC Finish: a combination finish in which the base (or backing) of your item will be gold, made of 230 struck brass, and the panels and seal applied on top will be silver, made of 750 nickel alloy.

Dome: a curvature applied to uniform “on-duty” badges, cap pieces, and collar ornaments. We also offer a slight curvature, known as LAPD Dome, on badges only.

Flat: an item with no curvature to it. Medals and award bars are always made flat, while badges, cap pieces, and collar ornaments can be ordered either flat or dome.

When placing a badge order, please inform your Sales Representative if you would like an attachment added to your flat badge. Otherwise, it will be made flat without any attachments. See FAQ below, “What Type of Attachments Are Available For Flat Badges?”

Standard orders ship approximately 30-35 business days from the date the order was placed. If the order is for Lucite encasement, or requires die mold tooling, it will ship within approximately 45-55 business days.

You can view your shipping date on the front of your Sales Order, under “Ship Date”.

For information on rushing an order, see below under “Can I Rush My Order?”

Yes, orders can be rushed for an additional fee, as follows:
7 day rush – 100% of the total cost of the items, excluding packaging, insurance and shipping
14 day rush – 50% of the total cost of the items, excluding packaging, insurance and shipping  
21 day rush – 25% of the total cost of the items, excluding packaging, insurance and shipping

NOTE: Rushes must be requested at the time you place your order. Rushes may not be available during the holiday season due to reduced business hours.

Yes, changes can be made within 24 hours of placing/confirming an order at no additional cost. All changes must be in writing.

NOTE: Changes made after 24 hours may incur work-in-process fees.

Badge item numbers can be found under the Item Number heading of your Quote, Sales Order, and Invoice. In addition, item numbers are listed on our website and in our catalog. For further assistance, contact your Sales Representative or email us at sales@erbadge.com.

Yes, it is possible to order a case without a badge. Each of our cases contains a custom cutout in the shape of the badge it will be holding, so you must inform your Sales Representative of the badge item number and whether the badge will be glued in or will have an attachment (such as a clip or pin).

If you are sending a picture of your badge for the cutout, please hold a ruler alongside the badge to ensure that the correct measurements are noted. 

Please Note: All leather goods are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. The only exception to this policy is for obvious mistakes made by the Sales Representative or the Production Team.

Digital Renderings are available for certain items. They are included with custom die mold orders, serving as a “blueprint” of the design. For orders that do not include custom molds, renderings may be available for a fee. Renderings come in JPEG, AI, and Vector file types.

Once the rendering is approved in writing, we will proceed with creating the mold(s) and a turnaround date will be assigned to your order.

Please keep in mind that digital renderings are used as a reference. While the renderings closely match the look of the final product, they cannot, by their nature, be an exact representation.

Unfortunately we are unable to change the finish on an existing badge. A new badge will have to be ordered.

The back of a badge can be engraved. There is a set fee in place for the engraving of letters, digits, characters and punctuation. Please contact your Sales Representative for a price quote on this service.

To clean your badge and cap piece, gently use a microfiber cloth only. Exposure to or use of household cleaners, disinfectants, perfumes, or other chemicals will remove the protective lacquer coating, leading to a dull or tarnished appearance, and will void the warranty. Tarnishing from household cleaners, chemicals, or other metal-cleaning products is not covered under warranty.

For best results, lightly polish your item with a soft cloth. Over-polishing may wear down the lacquer, which also is not covered under the warranty. In case of tarnish, please contact your Sales Representative for warranty and refinishing information. Include photos of the item’s front and back in your email so we may better assist you. DO NOT use ketchup, vinegar, household cleaners, or polishing chemicals to remove the tarnish. This WILL damage your item and void any applicable warranties.

We offer clip attachments, pins, and screw-posts as attachments for flat badges. 

If you need  your badge to have a specific attachment, or none at all, please inform your Sales Representative at the time of ordering. 

If your flat badge will be mounted in a case, we recommend ordering it either with a clip attachment or with no attachment. A clip attachment is ideal if you wish to remove your badge from the case; however, please be aware that we cannot guarantee that the badge will be fully recessed in the case. If you would like the badge fully recessed in the case, and will not be removing it, we recommend ordering the flat badge without any attachments and gluing it into the case.

Pins on the back of flat badges are not ideal for placing the badge into a case; the pin will not allow the badge to be fully recessed in the cutout, meaning it will jut out past the cutout.

Lastly, screw-posts are generally for badges that will be mounted on plaques. Please be aware that we offer only the screw-posts; we do not manufacture plaques.

We offer pin attachments and screw-post attachments for dome badges. 

Pins are the typical attachments used for dome badges, as they make it easy to pin the badge onto a uniform. 

Screw posts are generally for badges that will be mounted on plaques. Please be aware that we offer only the screw-posts; we do not manufacture plaques.

Clip attachments cannot be applied to dome badges.

Depending on their condition, badges, cap pieces, and medals typically can be refinished or repaired, as explained below.

The refinishing process involves removing the old lacquer, cleaning the item, polishing it to a high luster, and applying a fresh coat of lacquer.

When an item is sent to us for refinishing, a Sales Representative first reviews its condition to ensure that there is no other damage that will impact its overall quality. Primarily, Sales Representatives are looking for broken enamel, which cannot be repaired or refinished because the enamel often continues to break off, leaving gaps in the lettering or panels.  

For items with broken enamel, we can replace up to two affected panels. If more than two panels have broken enamel, we recommend remaking the item since removing more than two panels can damage the backing.

Additionally, we cannot refinish items that have been surface-plated. The refinishing will remove the surface plating, and we cannot guarantee that you will receive your badge back in the same finish.

Lastly, badges, cap pieces, and medals may be repairable, depending on their condition. If the repairs needed are too great, we will recommend remaking the item. 

Our Carltone (gold finish) is made of 230 struck brass, and our Platiloy (silver finish) is made of 750 nickel alloy. Badges that are made with combination finishes (such as Two Tone or PC) contain both of these metals.

We also offer sterling silver and gold-fill. Please ask a Sales Representative for pricing on these special materials.

Reverse Panels are panels with raised metal lettering and numbering. These panels are not engraved and require die molds to achieve the raised effect. We have molds in stock for most of the common ranks and titles, as well as numbers from 1 through 1000. If we do not have an existing mold for a desired rank, title, number, or font, there will be a one-time tooling fee to create the required mold(s). Please note the creation of die molds extends the turnaround time to 45-55 business days.

Yes, it is possible to change the rank or number on an existing badge. Before we can do so, we require a written letter of authorization signed by your Department Head granting approval. 

We carry a variety of colors of hard cloisonné enamel to choose from when designing your item: Royal Blue, Navy Blue, Black, Red, Green and Light Pink.

For a metallic look, we must use special die molds so that the letters and numbers are raised metal. In situations where we do not have existing die molds, we will need to create a custom die, which will incur a one-time tooling fee and extend the turnaround time to 45-55 business days.

The colors for award bars are hand-mixed, allowing us to customize almost any color for you.

Our badges are carefully hand-crafted in Commerce, California, within Los Angeles County.