21 October 2027
Brooke launches exclusive badge to honour wartime animals ahead of Remembrance Day
The limited-edition pin’s rich symbolism adds beauty to the lapel while honouring wartime animals and those serving communities today.
New Every Horse Remembered badge
For Brooke’s 2026 Every Horse Remembered campaign, a new collectors pin is on sale to help people remember the millions of animals who served in the First World War and raise funds to support the millions of horses, donkeys and mules still working worldwide today.
The limited-edition badge is on sale for £3.50 exclusively from the Brooke online shop in the run-up to Remembrance Day. Famous broadcaster and Brooke Ambassador Angela Rippon will be wearing one as she lays a wreath at the Animals in War Memorial ceremony in Hyde Park on 6 November.
Crafted from gilted iron and filled enamel, the delicate design combines a gold horseshoe with a calendula, a beautiful, multi-petaled orange flower.
The horseshoe represents and honours the animals who carried supplies, pulled heavy loads and bore soldiers into battle during the First World War, many of whom never returned.
The calendula carries rich symbolism, including joy, vitality, resilience and endurance, and represents healing. It shows Brooke’s historic and ongoing commitment to caring for working animals.
“Millions of horses, donkeys and mules served alongside people in wartime with the majority never returning home, yet their vital contribution is too often forgotten. Their sacrifice is woven into our shared history, a reminder of both the deep resilience of human-animal partnership and the cost of conflict."
Charity created from compassion by Victorian-born female founder
In the Victorian era, the calendula often represented grief, remembrance, and emotional renewal. Brooke was founded in 1934 when Dorothy Brooke, a British woman, was deeply moved by the war horses abandoned in Cairo after the First World War.
With support from an appeal letter in the Morning Post newspaper, she set up the Old War Horse Memorial, which became Brooke, and expanded across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Every year for Remembrance Week, Brooke pauses to reflect on the millions of horses, donkeys and mules who served alongside people in times of war.
Today, countless people still rely on millions of working animals to transport food, water and essential supplies, including families facing hardship, crisis and instability. Brooke provides emergency response and veterinary services, supports animal owners and works with governments to strengthen protections for working animals.
"Today, animals supporting people and communities around the world remain equally unseen. This new badge gives people a powerful way to honour them this remembrance season and directly help us support the working animals that families continue to rely on.”
Learn more about Brooke
From our beginnings as an animal hospital to how we help working horses, donkeys and mules around the world today - find out more about Brooke and how we make a difference.
