Sorry Sixty Fiver, I couldn't resist repeating the Gaxie typo (It got attention and responses though, didn't it?)
But nevertheless it is an interesting excercise to try and nail the dates that Dawes changed their badges.
Very little real info of this on the net and it has irked me for ages, and pooling info might make it clearer.

My knowledge coincides with nlerners.
I've got a Galaxy with the oval plain badge believed, but can't prove it, to be 1982.
On Flickr is a Dawes with the wreathed round type and this is definitely 1978 because it was bought from winnings on the Football Pools! (You gotta remember that date!)

http://flickr.com/photos/chris531/26...l-dawes_galaxy

I also had an early Realmrider with the cool torch badge, but that was from the early 60s and I won't bore you with more pics of it here.
And it doesn't help nailing the changeover date.
Reputedly Dawes changed the torch badge after the factory fire to the wreathed version.
Sounds right to me.

Question is when did the changeover from the wreathed to the oval plain type occur?
Seems to be between 78 and, possibly, 82.
Anybody got an oval badge confirmed from or before 82?