Material: Brass
Size: 30 mm W × 40 mm H
Description: This historic military artifact is a die-stamped brass hat badge featuring the stylized Polish White Eagle. The eagle is depicted facing left with its wings spread vertically, showing detailed feather textures across the body and pinions, and wearing a prominent royal crown. The bird's talons grasp the upper rim of a crescent-shaped Amazon shield (pelta), which features an outer border accented with decorative dots or rivets and finishes in elegant scrolled rosettes on both corners. The reverse side features a single centered screw post thread fitted with a matching round retaining nut, which allowed the piece to be securely fastened through the stiff wool fabric of a military field cap or beret.
Circa: 1939 – 1947
Notes:
This specific style of badge was worn by the Polish Armed Forces in the West, who bravely fought under British operational command after Poland was occupied by German and Soviet forces in 1949.
The crescent base is known as an Amazon shield, a classical defensive weapon shape adopted into Polish military heraldry during the early 19th century and popularized by the Polish Legions.
The presence of the crown on the eagle's head was a critical political statement during the mid-20th century. Free Polish units fighting in exile maintained the crown to represent the legitimate pre-war Republic, whereas the later Soviet-backed communist Polish People's Army systematically removed the crown from their military emblems.