WittWorldWide.com Posted October 17, 2017 Share #1 Posted October 17, 2017 Interested in opinions, or any specific documentation on when and where these unauthorized badges were made and worn... I'll start with the nicest one, I feel. 1) This Combat Infantry/Artillery Badge appears to be Asian/Japanese Made, given the Red Transparent Enameling and clutch posts, although slightly similar to German Occupation Made Posts as well... A Brass or Bronze Plated Base Metal, and likely Post-Korean War. Any Thoughts from the more hardcore CIB guys?? Any significance to the Green Felt?? Thanks, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gomorgan Posted October 18, 2017 Share #2 Posted October 18, 2017 Korean era and I think this one is Japanese made, buddy bought two of these and one was maker stamped to Japanese maker.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WittWorldWide.com Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share #3 Posted October 18, 2017 The Type of Red Enamel does say Japanese to me, and this is consistent with what I've seen on this being a Period piece. Not like the Collector Strikes of similar badges I have from Late Vietnam Era (1970s), for Artillery-Armor-Cav., which I will post a bit later. Did your buddy's have the Felt Backing? Thanks, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WittWorldWide.com Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted October 18, 2017 Interested in opinions, or any specific documentation on when and where these unauthorized badges were made and worn... Here are my other Unauthorized Variants: 1970s Collector Pieces, that appear to be consistent with comments in other sections of the CIB Forum. 1) Combat Artillery Badge in Red Background 2) Combat Armored-Cavalry in Yellow Background 3) Combat Armored-Cavalry in Green Background. I have two sub-variations, with either hollow stamped central device & solid struck central device. Thanks, Rich 1) 2) 3) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd12 Posted October 18, 2017 Share #5 Posted October 18, 2017 I've always thought these type of unauthorized badges date from the early 1950's to the mid 1960's. They were worn overseas; Korea, Japan, possible Germany. They were probably tolerated & even encouraged at the unit level. I don't think you would ever have seen these worn stateside. I have seen examples that are Japanese made ( I believe the first one you posted is Japanese ) and German made. These were also made in the US ( pic attached ). Very hard to find pictures of these actually being worn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd12 Posted October 18, 2017 Share #6 Posted October 18, 2017 User Captainofthe7th has a gorgeous uniform with one of these badges. See here: https://www.rcmcollection.com/talbot He also has some good information in his thread here along with more pictures: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/76906-the-captains-corner/page-3?hl=%2Bunofficial+%2Bcombat+%2Barmor+%2Bbadge&do=findComment&comment=717064 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WittWorldWide.com Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share #7 Posted October 18, 2017 The very 1st Badge in this thread is most certainly Japanese Made, and most likely in the 1950s... Still would like to know what the Green Felt was meant for? As Vets actually wore these, albeit UnAuthorized, I consider this stuff Period Theater Made Insignia, and part of a broad range of KW Era Custom/Private Purchase Insignia. Some interesting and beautiful stuff.... On the Later Trio here, I am not sure what to call these, but most likely Vietnam Era manufacture, and possibly in the U.S., although a ton of similar stuff, pocket badges, etc. was being done in Korea for U.S. Service Member consumption. Everything from Loosely Authorized Unit Insignia to Pure Novelty items... As there are some minor differences in construction, finish, and enamel color, I would guess more than one maker, or so crude a manufacturing process that Asian manufacture is likely. I've had these for over 25 yrs., as I started collecting CIBs and Variants a while back. To be honest I haven't played with the stuff for quite a while, but do appreciate this area of collecting, and glad to see a number of passionate folks getting into it. Thanks, Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd12 Posted October 18, 2017 Share #8 Posted October 18, 2017 I have CIBs with green felt, black felt, and dark blue felt backing. I even have one with red plastic backing. I think this was done to simply "dress up" the badge a bit. I have seen no correlation between unit, assignment, theater, etc.. and the felt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WittWorldWide.com Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share #9 Posted October 18, 2017 It could simply be "Dress Up"... I was thinking of something like Leadership Tabs, in a similar Green Color, but probably a stretch. In WW2 AAF Crew would use Blue Felt-Cloth Backgrounds on their Wings to designate/differentiate themselves for Combat Flight Service. As the Occupation Forces had a bit more time and local access on their hands, the "Custom Made" stuff was in high fashion. I will backtrack a bit on the last 3 of my badges definitely being from the Late 60s-Early 70s, as I did find some comments elsewhere on very similar badges being made in the late '50s in the US. The ones I have above are Positively Not the currently made restrikes of poor quality you see all over eBay, etc. So I'll call them Late Occupation/Cold War/Vietnam Era... How's that for covering bases? RW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gomorgan Posted October 19, 2017 Share #10 Posted October 19, 2017 Rich as to the green back cloth, on the two my buddy bought there was no cloth backing on either of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WittWorldWide.com Posted October 19, 2017 Author Share #11 Posted October 19, 2017 Appreciate the reply... Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd12 Posted October 20, 2017 Share #12 Posted October 20, 2017 Here's a similar badge to the first one you posted, also Japanese made. I got this with a small lot of Korean War era 32nd Infantry items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WittWorldWide.com Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share #13 Posted October 20, 2017 Obviously very similar, but is a different strike/maker... Have you seen many variants of this one? Is the reverse side similar as example I posted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rd12 Posted October 20, 2017 Share #14 Posted October 20, 2017 Reverse is very similar, I thought I had a pic of the back but can't find it. I've seen a handful of this style; quality enamel, good detail, hollow-backed. But they are far scarcer than the others you posted. If I recall correctly the last one on eBay ended close to $100. There is also a Korean War era variant that has the cannons separately applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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