The North-West Mounted Police force came into being on 30 August, 1873. For several years prior, the then Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, Alexander Morris, had warned Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald of the dire need for a police force in the new Canadian west. The growing unease between the new settlers and the Métis, and the Cypress Hills massacre of May 1873, where a dispute between American wolf hunters and Assiniboine natives, resulted in the massacre of these natives, including women and children, hastened the formation of the new mounted police force.

In the planning stages the new force was called the North-West Mounted Rifles, but political protests from the bordering American States that this was a 'military' force being sent to patrol and defend the border of this new Canadian land led to the change to North-West Mounted Police. The government of Sir John A. MacDonald had been formulating a plan to police 'Rupert's Land', territory that had been owned by the Hudson's Bay Company and sold to the Dominion Government. It was a huge territory, comprised of the vast drainage basin of Hudson Bay and large areas of present-day Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

North-West Mounted Police

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The badge of the North West Mounted Police is:

Arms: A light shade of Azure, a buffalo head affrontée proper, and a bordure Azure, inscribed NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE  + CANADA + , Or

Crown: The Crown of St. Edward

Garland: Branches of Maple proper

Motto: MAINTIEN LE DROIT (Maintain Justice)  in golden lettering on a blue ribbon.

We do not know the precise circumstances under which the bison head was chosen but it seems appropriate because of the close association of the RCMP with the prairie grasslands where early members depended on the buffalo for food, fuel and clothing. The adoption of the French motto gave the badge a bilingual character from the very beginning.

The jurisdiction of the N W Mounted Police was extended to the Yukon in 1895 and to the Arctic coast in 1903.

Royal North-West Mounted Police

Its primary role was General law enforcement. Detachments were established throughout the prairies, and a patrol system instituted in order to effectively police the entire region.

The prefix "Royal" was conferred on the NWMP by King Edward VII in June 1904

The badge of the RNWMP  was:

Arms: A light shade of Azure, a buffalo head affrontée proper, surrounded by a strap Azure, inscribed MAINTIEN LE DROIT (Maintain Justice) Or.

Crown: The Cown of St Edward

Garland: Branches of maple, and a listel Azure inscribed CANADA in golden lettering

Title: ROYAL NORTH WEST MOUNTD POLICE in golden leeting on a blue ribbon

Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) contracted to police the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905.

Mounted Police responsibilities extended to northern Manitoba in 1912.

Provincial policing contracts terminated in 1917. RNWMP was now responsible for federal law enforcement only in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories; in 1918, however, this was extended to all four western provinces.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

In 1920, federal policing was reorganized, the RNWMP absorbed the Dominion Police and became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Its responsibility for federal law enforcement was extended to all provinces and territories.

The badge of the corps was changed by adapting the title on the ribbon below. Also the motto on the strap was changed from MAINTIEN LE DROIT to MAINTIENS LE DROIT

In 1953 the badge was submitted to the College of Arms in England for redesigning according to heraldic procedures.”

Design: College of Arms, UK

Client: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Date: 1953

Æ See illustration in the head of this article

Guidon

The first RCMP guidon dates back to 1935. It was retired in 1973 and a new Guidon was presented to the RCMP by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in an impressive ceremony at Regina on July 4 of that year. Centrally featured was the RCMP badge, which was surrounded by the Royal Cypher; the initials of the North West Mounted Police, Royal North West Mounted Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, each wreathed in maple leaves; the five battle or campaign honours - Northwest Canada, 1885; South Africa, 1900-02; France and Flanders, 1918; Siberia, 1918-19 and Europe, 1939-45.