Hundreds of thousands of badges have been awarded, including 750,000 in the past 10 years alone
The longest running children’s TV show in the world marks 60 years of its famous Blue Peter badge first introduced by Biddy Baxter on June 17 1963.
The idea was that children sent in ideas to tell the producers what they would like to see on the show and, in turn, they were rewarded with a badge.
Since then hundreds of thousands of badges have been awarded, including 750,000 in the past 10 years alone.
Today there are eight types of badges – Blue, Silver, Green, Sport, Purple, Orange, Gold and Music. Blue can be earned by viewers sending in an interesting letter, poem, picture, or story, or by appearing on the programme. Silver celebrates kindness and doing something for others. Green is the environmental award, for viewers who show how much they care about nature and the planet.
Purple is awarded to children who take an active role in the show by joining the online community and reviewing a show that they have watched. Orange is given to viewers who have been either a winner or runner-up in a Blue Peter competition.
The music badge was designed by Ed Sheeran and is awarded to viewers who by tell Blue Peter about their passion for music. The Sport badge encourages everyone to be active. The 2021 Sport Badge was designed by Britain’s youngest Olympian, Sky Brown, and there is a yet to be revealed, brand-new Sport badge designed by England football player, Leah Williamson, coming soon for 2023.
The Gold badge is Blue Peter’s highest award and is only given to people who have shown outstanding bravery, courage and expertise or have represented their country in an international event.
Famous Gold badge holders include King Charles and Queen Camilla, The Prince and Princess of Wales, Ellie Simmonds, David Beckham, Greta Thunberg, Jamie Oliver, Malory Blackman, Mary Berry, Marcus Rashford, Tim Peake, Steven Spielberg, Sir Mo Farrah, and Sir David Attenborough have also earned Blue Peter’s most sought-after award.
Every guest who appears on the show earns a badge including celebrities such as Hugh Jackman, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Maisie Williams, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ewan McGregor, Justin Bieber and Morph.
Children age 5-15 years also get free admission into attractions up and down the country with their Blue Peter badge and Badge Card.
Editor, Blue Peter, Ellen Evans says: “Every week on Blue Peter we encourage kids to join in, find out new stuff, be creative and adventurous and earn their very own Blue Peter badge. To this day the Blue Peter team love reading the letters from our fans and we reply personally to every one we receive. There is something very special about receiving a personal letter in the post and knowing that you’ve earnt your badge because you’ve done your best. Everyone wants a Blue Peter badge, from kids to celebrities!”
The artwork that viewers send to Blue Peter feature in every single Blue Peter show on CBBC and iPlayer on the ‘big badge wall’. And there is also a chance that viewers applying for a badge might be lucky enough to end up on the show. Recently, magic fan, Ruben came to the Blue Peter studio and then visited the Blackpool Magic convention with presenter Joel and Eliza and Harrison went to see behind the scenes at the Eurovision Song Content while Ashar, Sasha and Celyn even got to meet the King and Queen when they were recently awarded their gold badges.
Latest badge news includes the announcement of a limited edition Doctor Who badge. For the 60th birthday of Doctor Who, Blue Peter launched a special competition in May for a fan to go behind the scenes on set with the top 500 entrants winning a very limited-edition competition badge.
Blue Peter is on CBBC and BBC iPlayer every Friday from 5pm.
