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Army & Navy Union Membership badge


KevinBeyer
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I recently obtained an example (date unknown) of an Army & Navy Union membership badge. It is maker marked "The G Fox Co/Advertisers/Novelties/Cinn O". The ribbon has some wear to it and the pin is of a design that might come from the 50s-60s(?).

 

The Army & Navy Union formed without restriction to service within a particular War (i.e. The Civil War, The Indian Wars, etc.). The founders realized that those organizations would swell in membership, but over time their ranks would dwindle and then cease to exist. So, they did not make service in a particular action a criterion for membership. In 1886 it became a National Organization which was permanent for all veterans. Their charge was to "Promote loyalty to the country, assemble comrades in order to perpetuate a spirit of fraternity, present social affairs, and befriend ex-servicemen and woman who might need help in securing employment, in caring for the sick, and in burying their dead."

 

ANUMembershipMedal.jpg

 

 

Does anyone have any other examples of this badge. Does anyone know of any variations of design?

 

Army & Navy Union official website

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collectsmedals

I have an Army Navy Union medal from a Spanish American War veteran that is essentially identical to yours including the mount design.

 

By the way, the Army Navy Union still exists, I was a member of the Conneaut Ohio garrison until it closed a few years ago. Most of the remaining active garrisons are in Ohio with a few in other states.

post-294-1197826329.jpg

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I have a lapel pin and a variation of the medal that belonged to someone in my family. The medal has a winged prop between the eagle and the six pointed pendant. I'll see if I can dig it out and take some pics.

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  • 2 months later...

I recently obtained an example (date unknown) of an Army & Navy Union Auxiliary membership badge. It is maker marked "Metal Arts Co/Roch NY". The ribbon has practically no wear to it, but the pin has some verdigris which I can hopefully remove. The pin's design might come from the 40s-50s(?). The ANU website does not offer for sale an auxiliary membership badge, so it is uncertain whether or not they are still in production.

 

AANUMembershipMedal2.jpg

 

Kevin

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From the Army & Navy Union website they offer for sale to its members the following version of their membership badge:

 

ANUMembershipMedal_Modern.jpg

 

Note that the eagle atop the pendant has changed in each example displayed. From the above two earlier examples, I do not know which is the oldest. I tend to think that the Auxiliary badge is older because of the clasp. However, with the sleek wing design of its eagle, that makes me think it may be more modern than its male counterpart.

 

Thoughts?

 

Kevin

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  • 6 months later...

I have just encountered a beautiful example of an Army & Navy Union Commander in Chief membership badge. Before now, I had not seen any type of distinctive officer badge from this organization. Based upon the name provided with this badge, it dates from the mid 1950s-1960s. The pendant differs from that of a standard membership badge in that is has had attached on its reverse a radiant sunburst in the shape of an eight pointed star. This sunburst has been applied to the obverse by using two rivets.

 

The top bar displays 4 stars with a deep, blue background. Suspended from it is the name "Hon. Harold H Burton". The Reverse has been engraved "Soldier/Statesman/Jurist" and is maker marked "Rollins". The pendant is suspended from the top bar with a standard Army & Navy Union membership ribbon.

 

ANUCinCHaroldHBurton2.jpg

 

JUDGE HAROLD H. BURTON

 

Kevin

 

(The picture was obtained from the publicly viewed auction site where it was offered for sale. The image(s) have been modified for display purposes.)

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  • 4 weeks later...

As luck would have it, I have obtained a example of an Army & Navy Union officer badge. I am not familiar with their insignia to know which position this badge represents. I also do now know if the application of the silvered sunburst behind the standard pendant is meant to represent a past, or present, officer. Perhaps the different sunbursts are meant to represent differing levels of the organization, i.e. state versus national.

 

I would greatly appreciate any information that readers could provide regarding these questions. Perhaps even a member of the ANU could shed some light on my query.

 

ANUOfficerMedal.jpg

 

Kevin

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Wow! Now that is a sharp looking medal...

 

Any idea how much this would have cost the member or the organization (if given and paid for by the organization)? It sure doesn't look like the cheap medals groups give out for membership these days!

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ADMIN,

 

According to the ANU website, medals of this type could be purchased for around $40. This is partial speculation on my part as the actual badges for sale are not viewable by non-members. I was hoping that a member of the ANU might be able to shed some light on the subject for us.

 

Kevin

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  • 1 month later...

Have been watching the A&NU badge with blue enamel top bar with silver oak leaves. Was hoping someone had special information on the meaning of this bar. Everything I know about the A&NU says this bar should not exist. But there it is.

 

A history of the A&NU written by the workers in the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Ohio and published in 1942 contains a section on badges. From the different versions of badges in my collection and those posted on the Forum, I can only conclude the A&NU had many badges in its lifetime. Most of the major variations occurred before WWI. Minor changes due to production techniques are evidenced from WWI to WWII. Similar minor changes due to manufacturer's style of producing the badge are evident from WWII until today.

 

The history of officer bars on the A&NU badge is equally complex. Before WWI, the A&NU had several version of colors for present and past officers and in one short period they changed the colors for Garrison, Dept. and National three times. Before 1920 they finally settled on the system still in use today--all present officers (Nat'l, Dept. and Garrison) have White enamel; past officers use the following color scheme--Nat'l is Dark Blue, Dept. is Purple and the Garrison is Red.

 

The officer bars illustrated in the book are traditional rank strap types starting with one single silver bar, two silver bars, gold oak leaf, silver oak leaf, silver eagle, one star, two stars, three stars and four stars. Only the office of Chaplain uses the symbolic Christian cross in place of military insignia.

 

The local unit, the Garrison or Naval Branch, uses rank straps up to silver oak leaf for the Commander. The Dept. uses rank straps up to silver eagle for the Commander. The Nat'l uses only star rank straps from one star to four stars for the Commander-in-Chief.

 

If only the Nat'l body uses Blue enamel for past officers and only stars for Nat'l officer positions, what is a Blue enamel bar with a silver oak leaf? It is not supposed to exist. But it does and I do not know what it represents. My current issue A&NU Constitution and Bylaws, as well as the Book of Ceremonies, contains no mention of badges--past or present officer and general member. Consequently, there is no way of knowing if this bar represents some position (such as Sgt-at-Arms) added at a later date to the Nat'l level, but not given a rank strap with star.

 

The A&NU Constitution & Bylaws is flexible in its treatment of officers in a Garrison, Dept. or Nat'l body. A certain number of job titles are mandatory, but some are flexible in that they may be added if the particular body wants or needs the position. There are also two additional subdivisions with the organization. The United States is divided into several AREAS (five or six states of similar history and geography) represented by a separate Jr. Vice-Commander at the Nat'l level. There is also a provision for County Councils. When three or more Garrisons reside in one county of a state, that county may create an intermediate group call a County Council. Officers of the County Council are: Commander, Sr. and Jr. Vice-Commander, and other officers as the Council deems necessary (i.e., Historian, Chaplain, Adjutant, Sgt-at-Arms, etc.).

 

Now comes the fun part.

 

A recent A&NU item on eBay was so unusual; I had to bid on it. Illustration #1 is a very different A&NU badge with several bars on the ribbon. The red enamel bars at the bottom of the ribbon represent Garrison offices, while the purple enamel bars at the top of the ribbon represent Dept. offices. The green enamel bars in the middle of the ribbon were entirely new to me. Because of their position between the Garrison and Dept. officer bars, I can only conclude they represent County Council officer positions. Such bars did not exist in the 1942 history of the A&NU. Best guess--County Councils are post-WWII and so is the creation of this badge. As an added note: the red enamel bar with Capt. Insignia (Army) or Lieutenant Insignia (Navy) is solid red. The bar above it with silver oak Leaves has transparent red enamel. The two green enamel bars are solid enamel. The two purple enamel bars are transparent enamel. (The black bow ribbon is a typical period emblem for mourning of a deceased local member, Dept or Nat'l officer or well known national military person.)

 

A second A&NU badge sold with the above badge was a Past C-in-C badge shown in illustration #2. It has four stars on a blue enamel background. It also has an engravable disc hanging from two suspension rings attached to the bar. Have a Past Garrison Commander badge with such a disc engraved with the year 1979-80. Note that the multi-bar badge does not exhibit the suspension rings. Believe current issue bars also do not have these rings. The entire badge hangs from an R-W-B ribbon which is the fairly current method of wearing the heavy national officer badges. Note also the silver sun burst emblem behind the pendent. Believe this is typical of officer's badges since WWII (but it may have been the late 1950s or 1960s when this began). The stars on the bar have red centers and assume they are glued to the blue enamel since back of bar shows no evidence of rivets.

 

And there you have it; the worlds' longest non-answer to the question, "What does the blue bar with silver oak leaf represent?" The question is still unanswered because I do not know how it fits into the A&NU scheme.

post-1633-1227216611.jpg

 

Illustration #2

post-1633-1227218236.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

I'm late to this thread but here's what I know:

 

Type I-a (1888): 5 armed maltese cross with ball finials 44 mm in diameter. The arms of the cross are enamelled on the obverse and havegilt edging and service emblems (clockwise from the top - white w/crossed rifles {Inf}, blue w/ fouled anchor {Navy}, red w/crossed canons {Art}, yellow w/crossed sabers {Cav}, and red w/EGA {USMC}. The central medallion (18 mm) is enamelled white with an equilateral triangle in the center each side enamelled red, white, and blue. Gilt letters "A", "N", "M" opposite each side. "TRINITA PROTEGO" in gilt letters around the top and "R.A.& N.U. around the bottom. The medal is suspended by a stafa from a red-white-blue tricolor ribbon. The brooch is a 42 mm splayed eagle with head tucked and facing the observers left.

 

Type I-b (1890): Same as the type I-a but the ribbon was changed to a flag ribbon similar to the GAR ribbon. Some were marked on the reverse "C.M. Robbins/Maker/Attleboro, Mass" in impressed letters.

 

Type II (1901): 5 armed maltese cross with ball finials as the type I but in plain bronze. The emblems on the arms of the cross were changed to - Clockwise from top - Inf, Cav, Castle {Eng}, Navy, and Art. The central medallion has a shield (as in the US coat of arms) w/ the letters "U.S." superimposed. Ribbon and brooch the same a type I-b. Later strikes were impressed on the reverse "Gus. Fox Co. Cin. O." A ribbon devise indicating the wearers branch of service is rarely founf on the ribbon.

 

Type III (1909): A 6 armed cross flory in plain bronze. Emblems on the arms are clockwise from top - Eng, Cav, Navy, Inf, USMC, and Art. The top arm is surmounted by a spread eagle suspension bar (24 mm). The central medallion has a A&NU monogram surrounded by a wreath. The medal is suspended by a stafa from a ribbon of Red/Maroon/Green/Maroon/White/Maroon/Yellow/Maroon/Blue. The brooch was changed to a full wrap brooch. Early strikes (type III-a) are smaller in diameter and marked "Registered/ (impressed #)/C.M. Robbins Co./Attlebora Mass" in raised letters on the reverse. Latter strikes (type III-B) are marked "The/Gustav Fox Co./Cin. O." on the reverse. The brooch was changed in 1913 to a bar engraved "A & NU". Some medals were provided with plain bars, Auxilliary, or Honorary Member.

 

Type IV (1937): This was the type III badge rotated approximently 30 degrees. The eagle suspension was replaced with a large (37 mm x 30 1/2 mm) Air Corps devise. The reverse was marked "Pilgrim Badge/Boston" on the reverse. This version resulted from the order's involvement with lobbying Congress for an expanded Air Corps and attract aviators to its ranks. Unable to obtain Congressional approval to wear this badge on the uniform, it was revoked and the order reverted to the Type III version.

 

Type V (late 1930's or early 1040's): Basically, these are reissues of the type III medal.

Type V-a: Made by Medal Arts Co., Rochester, NY. These use a ring suspesion thru the top of the eagle rather than the stafa. Also the tips of the eagle's wings are pointed instead of round. Typically they have an 8 sided cartouche or depression in the center of rthe reverse bearing the maker's name.

Type V-b: These are still later versions of the type III made by Bastian Bros of rochester, NY. The reverted to the sfata suspension and some have a round depression in the center of the revese with the maker's name.

 

Rank Straps: First authorised in 1913. National officers wore white, Department officers wore red and Garrison/Naval Branch officer wore purple. The colors were later changed to white for active officers at all levels and blue for past national officers, purple for past department officers and red for past garrison/naval branch officers.

National Commander = 4 stars

National Sr Vice Cmdr = 3 stars

National Jr Vice Cmdr = 2 stars

National Adj Gen & other elected & appointed officers = 1 star

Staff officers = spread eagle (prob. gold)

Dept Cmdr = gold eagle later a silver eagle

Dept Sr Vice Cmdr = silver eagle later a silver oak leaf

Dept Jr Vice Cmdr = 2 silver bars later a gold oak leaf

Other elected & apptd officers = 1 silver bar later 2 silver bars

Gar. Cmdr = gold oak leaf

Gar Sr Vice Cmdr = silver oak leaf

Gar Jr Vice Cmdr = 2 silver bars

Other elected & apptd officers = 1 silver bar

 

Re: the medals identified as past commander badges earlier in this thread. The are actually the Union Medal of Honor. It was designed and made in gold for Gen John J. Pershing. Later the order had replicas of this medal made for presentation to members of the armed forces for outadtanding service to the country and to civilians for meritorious service to the order. Officially the finish is supposed to be gilt and varieties are found with a 3 ring suspension and some with the usual stafa suspension.

 

At some point the ANU ribbon was changed with a gold stripe replacing the green one.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Jim Barker

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Hi, Jim,

 

Outstanding information! I sincerely appreciate your contribution to this thread. Your single post has added more information than I could have!

 

I am curious about the awarding of the A&NU Medal of Honor that you mentioned. How is it awarded? What are its criterion? How many are issued each year? This is something I have not heard about in relation to a veterans organization, per se. If they are medals of honor, what is the significance of a rank strap with four stars versus one with oak leaves? Do they emulate the status of the member within the organization at the time of award?

 

Thanks again for your message!

 

Kevin

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Hi Kevin,

 

I don't have any good answers to your questions. The society is largely concentrated in Ohio and New Jersey. It's difficult to get any good info and I'm a member! (I think I'm the only one west of the Mississippi) As far as I know the is no member handbook, their constitution and by laws has not been available for a long time, they don't have a newsletter and don't list email adress for the national officers. Most of what I learned came from old catalogs and collector journals. Here's my best guess on the Union's Medal of Honor:

 

As I said the original was designed as a special medal in gold to recognize Gen Pershing's service and was presented sometime after the war - probably in the early 1920's. The Robbins Co. of Attleboro, MA was contracted to make replicas of the Pershing medal for presentation to militaryand civilains as mentioned in my previos post.

I'm not sure if there was any stated criteria other than outstanding/meritorious service. I imagine a member nominated someone they thought worthy, the recomendation was voted on by the executive staff, and the award presented at the annual convention. Some of the recipients include Sec of Navy Frank Knox, FBI Dir J. Edgar Hoover, & Pres F. D. Roosevelt. Apparently the medal was also given to Honorary Life Members of the Union. I think the all gilt version with the four stars that you postedmay be an award to an Honorary Life Member. Whether he was also a past national commander I don't know. Suppossedly, when the medal was presented to a non-member it had a plain bronze pin bar, so maybe he was. The two posted examples with the silver star behind the badge I think are probably past commander badges.

 

Jim

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  • 5 months later...

According to Jim Barker's excellent summary, I have just added a Type IV (1937) badge to my collection. For your consideration, here it is:

 

AANUMembershipMedal3.jpg

 

Kevin

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  • 4 years later...

New here, but would the ribbon bar for this been concurrent with the medal or would the bar been introduced later on? I've had a second pattern ribbon bar since 2001 and ID'd it from this last night. It's yellowed and worn, but so were the bars for the Silver Star, National Defense, Naval Reserve, and a Red/White/Red bar I haven't ID'd either. No maker's marks on any, but the SS. Paper tag, "Viking Kwikset" Ser. #4H- Silver Star- Pat #2464395- Hilborn-Hamburger Inc, on the back or it.

Does anyone have an idea of when the green changed to gold? I would think between the turn of the century and 1937, if the above 1937 that seemed short-lived had a gold ribbon, but the presentation piece for the judge is later. Could certain companies not have changed over as quickly or simply used up what they had on hand first?

I graduated from college and have been trying to organize my collection as a break from job-hunting and have been ID'ing things and getting it into some kind of display with labels. I like the academic portion as much as hunt. I'd post a picture of the bar I have, but I can't seem to take a good one and it isn't letting me post one anyway.

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CDWells,

 

Welcome to the USMF. Your question was in regards to changing colors of the ribbon. I don't believe that there was a color change. They should be, from left to right, as follows:

 

Red, Maroon, Green, Maroon, White, Maroon, Yellow, Maroon, Blue.

 

What I can say is that I have observed that any ribbon that has some age to it, which uses the color green, often has that color turning to a white, off white, tan, yellow, or yellowish gold color. I think that the dyes that were used for green were substandard as compared to all other colors that one normally sees.

 

Kevin

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Thank you for the welcome, but I must respectfully disagree on the issue of the color change. As it seems I can't post a photo or link, you'll have to search for it yourself, but there are pictures from the 2013 Summer Encampment on The Department of the Ohio Army & Navy Union's Facebook page. This included swearing in new officers and the later ribbon can clearly be seen as yellow and not green. New badges would have new ribbon, and if it changes that fast, they would find another source. The issue then becomes when did it change. Before 1937 seeing the above short lived 1937 pattern medal with the later ribbon. I look forward to a discussion on this subject and seeing if we can come up with a solid history for the badge.

CD Wells

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I looked at the facebook page and it does appear that there might have been a color change. My suggestion would be to contact the Army & Navy Union Dept of Ohio directly and see if anyone there can answer your question. If they provide an answer, reporting back to this group would add to our knowledge base and would be greatly appreciated.

 

Kevin

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Here's an early form of the membership badge, specially made in gold for presentation. It's engraved on the reverse to Edmund Rice. Rice was awarded the Medal of Honor for Heroism at Gettysburg, one of many actions in which he participated during the war. He joined the Regular Army in 1866 and again saw combat in the Indian Wars and Philippine Insurrection. He retired as a brigadier general in 1903 and died in 1906.

post-10651-0-97999200-1395338716.jpg

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teufelhunde.ret

Wow! Not only is this a stunning medal, his record of service as seen on your link, is MOST IMPRESSIVE! A remarkable man...!

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Adam,

 

This is an outstanding presentation membership badge for this organization. The history is great as well. The research makes these objects come alive.

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  • 1 year later...

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