badge
    n 1: an emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that
         signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation
         etc.); "they checked everyone's badge before letting them
         in"
    2: any feature that is regarded as a sign of status (a
       particular power or quality or rank); "wearing a tie was
       regarded as a badge of respectability"
    v 1: put a badge on; "The workers here must be badged"

Badge \Badge\ (b[a^]j), n. [LL. bagea, bagia, sign, prob. of
   German origin; cf. AS. be['a]g, be['a]h, bracelet, collar,
   crown, OS. b[=o]g- in comp., AS. b[=u]gan to bow, bend, G.
   biegen. See Bow to bend.]
   1. A distinctive mark, token, sign, or cognizance, worn on
      the person; as, the badge of a society; the badge of a
      policeman. "Tax gatherers, recognized by their official
      badges." --Prescott.
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   2. Something characteristic; a mark; a token.
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            Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. --Shak.
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   3. (Naut.) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel,
      containing a window or the representation of one.
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Badge \Badge\ (b[a^]j), v. t.
   To mark or distinguish with a badge.
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BADGE. A mark or sign worn by some persons, or placed upon certain things 
for the purpose of designation. Some public officers, as watchmen, 
policemen, and the like, are required to wear badges that they may be 
readily known. It is used figuratively when we say, possession of personal 
property by the seller, is. a badge of fraud.