War-Amps by Province Note the matching pair. (10-00 indicates a sample) Universal Provincial design (no license plate number)

Since 1946, the War Veterans have been issuing tiny key chain identification tags as a fundraiser, to help in the return of lost keys. The identification tags are mailed out, and recepients are asked to send in a modest donation for this service. Anyone finding keys with a Veterans' tag, is instructed drop them in the nearest mailbox.  The keys would then be delivered to the Veterans' HQ, who in turn would forward them back to the owner. Besides War Veterans themselves, the program also employs handicapped people. At first, the tags, issued in pairs, were mailed unsolicited to most people with a personal car. Since they were targeted to motorists, they displayed a miniature version of the owner's license plate as identification. This worked well, until the mid 70s when most provinces were issuing semi-permanent plates validated by stickers. This meant the owner kept the same plate for several years. Some felt little need to buy next years' tags when last years' would already identify their keys. Another problem was that some finders of lost keys with such tags would look for the matching car and drive off! The Veterans decided to replace the license plate number with a serial number, unrelated to a license plate. This would still allow them to identify the owner of the keys through their database. Another advantage to this change was that it encouraged broader participation; anyone owning a set of key would see a benefit to using the tags.  It should be noted various veterans' groups were responsible for issuing these tags. The War Amputees (or "War Amps") had the lions' share of the program, issuing the tags for every province except BC. Those in BC were issued by the Tuberculosis Veterans (or "TB Vets"). The Police Veterans had a brief participation in Quebec, handling the tags from 1950-57 before handing that jurisdiction back to the War Amps. When the tags carried the serial number of the motorist's license plate, they were made as a miniature version. Any graphics or crests which appeared on the license plates were carefully duplicated, giving a realistic, attractive appearance. The represention of the plate together with the serial number were printed on a small piece of laminated cardboard. Sample tags not intended for issue usually carried the number 1000 or a series of zeros. A metal frame with a key ring was used to encapsulate the small cardboard tag. Around 1969, their shape became more rectangular, without the key ring sticking out. These tags were assembled by the Veterans themselves at their HQ. Those in BC, issued by the TB Vets were made of plastic. A few examples are shown this page.  Because of their attractiveness, some consider them highly collectible. From the mid 70s the tags were identified by province, but the license plate design was dropped.  The serial number no longer corresponded with the owner's license plate number.  The design featured the province's coat-of-arms, a date, and the computer printed serial number. In 1981 the War Amps went to a Nationwide design, dropping the provincial designation. These tags featured a Canadian Maple Leaf, and from 1984, the War Amps logo. Eventually by the early 90s, the tags were made of plastic like the TB Veterans tags. During the transition period you could order either metal or plastic tags. And to be politically correct, these tags exist with bilingual legends. The TB Veterans of course have always kept their provincial designation. Recently, the TB Veterans tags have been available to supporters outside of BC. They are not allowed to bulk mail them outside the province, however if a supporter moved out of province, they may still be mailed out to that specific individual. Today, anyone can voluntarily support either the War Amps or TB Veterans by requesting tags through their websites. First year of Veterans Tags by Province BC 1946a NB 1954 Alta 1946 NS 1949 Sask 1946 PEI 1951c Man 1946 Nfld 1953 Ont 1946 Yuk 1962d Que 1947b NWT 1962d aIn 1950 the War Amps mailed tags out to BC. bYears 1950-57 issued by the Police Veterans; all other years by the War Amps. cYears 1954-56 unknown. dDiscontinued after 1972 due to lack of interest. Links The War Amputees website can be found at www.waramps.org. The TB Veterans website can be found at www.tbvets.org. A very comprehensive site on this history of this subject can be found at www.keychaintags.com. This site covers both US and Canadian tags.

War-Amps (Nationwide, except BC) Style of 1981-83 Style of 1984-96 (metal) Unique style of 1990 (plastic) Style of 1992-95 (plastic) War Amps 50th Anniverary (Special Gold Tags) The numbers wore off easily... So replaced with this type. Revised tags in 1996. TB Vets (issued from BC) On the early ones, the design wore off easily. Special issue for ALPCA members. BC did not have vanities in 1974. Provincial Crest Design. Current Design - BC's Vanity plate