red button

plural red buttons

1. UKhistoricalbusinessA clerk employed in the settling room of the stock exchange.

   The third and junior category, the Settling Room clerks wear a red badge and are known as "red buttons."

   1964, David Eugene Spray, The Principal Stock Exchanges of the World, page 189

   1 more example

   Unauthorized clerks or Blue Buttons can make enquiries in the House and ask for prices but may not enter into any contract, while Red Buttons are clerks entitled to work in the Settling or checking Room.

   1954, Margaret Shelly Rix, Stock Market Economics, page 17