The Head Badge Is Back!
Embossed metal head badges became popular in Europe with the rise of industrial mass production in the late 19th century. Around 1900, for example, Chemnitz bicycle manufacturer Wanderer replaced the decals on its bicycles with embossed head badges. Embossed bicycle emblems would almost completely replace decals, and luxury bicycles were soon equipped with coloured enamelled emblems. With the decline of the German bicycle industry, the embossed head badges also disappeared in the 1960s. Ever since cycling’s triumphant return in recent years, coloured printed or enamelled metal head badges, and even high-quality milled or lasered aluminium plates, have had as triumphant a comeback.