Badge, Mothers and Widows, Australia, 1919
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1919 AD
Alternative Name(s): Mothers & Widows Ribbon Black badge embroidered with Australian Military Forces crest and wattle emblem words 'For Australia' below. White metal bars at top and bottom one brass star on bottom bar indicating three sons and possibily a husband killed. The badge is numbered 9940.
The recipient of the badge is unknown, and a search of registers of the badges issues has not found this particular number. According to the Australian War Memorial, the badge was officially sanctioned in Military Order 64 of 1919. The Barrier Miner (NSW) announced on 4 June 1919 that badges were now being issued to the mothers and widows of those 'who have been killed in action or died of wounds or other causes while serving, or who after discharge died from causes directly attributable to wounds or sickness incurred while on service'.
Appropriate wear was prescribed: 'When the badge is worn it should be attached to the dress, on the right breast'. A total of 30,000 badges were ordered (although over 60,000 were killed). Delivery was delayed due to power restrictions during 'the strike' (thousands of seamen were involved in industrial action during 1919), and the contractor struggling to produce the necessary quality for the metal bars. Black ribbon, machine-embroidered in gold with wattle sprigs, a Rising Sun badge with motto AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES, and the words FOR AUSTRALIA, ribbon. The badge is suspended from a white metal bar impressed with laurel leaves within a chain border. Three gold stars are attached to the bottom bar. The back of the top bar is stamped 9940 below a pin for attaching to clothing.
Obverse: Black ribbon with gold machine-embroidered rising sun, wattle sprigs and motto 'AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES FOR AUSTRALIA'. Suspended from white metal bar impressed with laurel leaves within a chain border. Three gold stars attached to bottom metal bar. Reverse: Back of top bar stamped '9940' below a pin for attaching to clothing.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 2
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
"The First World War Mothers and Widows Badge was issued to the mother and/or widow of all members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) or the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force who had been killed in action, died of wounds or other causes while on active service, or who, after discharge, had died of wounds or sickness directly attributable to that service.
The black ribbon was machine-embroidered in gold with wattle sprigs, a Rising Sun badge and the words "For Australia". The badges were suspended from a white metal bar which bore laurel leaves. Stars were added to the bottom bar, each indicating the death of one man. The badge was promulgated under Military Order 64 of 1919."
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Cotton
- Dimensions
- Maximum dimensions: 8 mm (Length), 63 mm (Width), 105 mm (Height); Overall Dimensions: 64 mm (Width), 100 mm (Height)
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- FOR AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN MILITARY FORCES 9940
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Museums Victoria, Melbourne collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- mv-1229294
- Museum object name
- Badge - Mothers & Widows, Three Stars, Australia, 1919
- Holding institution
- Museums Victoria, Melbourne
- Museum object number
- NU 38063
- Published references
- Australian War Memorial Encyclopaedia, 'The Mothers and Widows Badge', http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/badges/mothers_widows.asp, accessed 27 Mar 2013. MOTHERS AND WIDOWS' BADGES. (1919, June 4). Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45485550. WAR BADGES FOR WOMEN. (1919, September 19). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.