i've also had that problem before. during WoE! that was interesting to say the least. i didn't do anything to fix it, the next day it was back to normal. i don't remember if i downloaded any patches between that time... but that's the only thing i can think of that might have made a difference. though i don't really know how it would.
you shouldn't have to download someone's tmp_emblem folder to fix it. it doesn't matter if your folder is empty or full, you should still be able to see emblems in the game and they would still be automatically saved to that folder. in fact, you could go ahead and delete everything in that folder and let the game re-add the emblems as you come across them. i don't know if that would immediately solve your problem, but it wouldn't do any harm.