Bronze badge of multi-part construction, a cross patonce with suspension of American bald eagle with wings outstretched and integral ribbon bar imposed on an eight-pointed faceted ‘sunburst’ star with ball-tipped finials and with five graduated rays between the arms; the face with a circular central medallion bearing the ‘A&N’ cipher of the Army and Navy Union of the United States within a circular laurel wreath, each of the arms decorated with a symbol for a branch of the Armed Forces - a castle (Engineers), crossed sabres (Cavalry), an anchor (Navy), crossed rifles (Infantry), an eagle perched on a globe imposed on an anchor (Marines) and crossed cannon (Artillery); the reverse plain; on replaced correct ribbon.
The Army and Navy Union of the United States was founded in 1886 and membership is open to all veterans of all branches of the U.S. Military. The aim of the Union is 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’.
There have been a number of versions of the members insignia; this example is of Type III, issued in 1909 and current up until about 1940. We understand that the sunburst indicates an officer of the Union. General Military Law states that ‘A member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps who is a member of the Army and Navy Union of the United States may wear, on public occasions of ceremony, the distinctive badges adopted by that society.’
A good older example.
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