Little Help Guys!!

[Z19]

I have no idea on this one, anybody?? Thanks guys, Alex

[aeroraider]

Coro

Your piece is Coro costume jewelry. The company was in business from around 1900 to 1979. It is a decorative item for a woman and has no connection with the military.

[Z19]

Badge

That may be true, but Coro made a ton of military items as well and I have seen that crest somewhere before. Thanks, Alex

[Peter_Suciu]

That may be true, but Coro made a ton of military items as well and I have seen that crest somewhere before. Thanks, Alex

It absolutely can't be British Military, as that isn't the right crown. It is NOT the King's Crown (1901-1952) nor is the Queen's Crown (1952-present). So without the proper crown it can't be military

Also, the British wouldn't use the Fleur-de-lis on a badge such as this. So I have to agree it is costume jewelry. Anything else would use the proper royal crown of the respective era.

[peter monahan]

Might the crest be for the old British Cinque Ports? 5 towers and a crown unlike 'official crowns' to avoid annoying the authorities. I seem to recall the Cinque Ports had some special status in medieval times, which might explain the fleur-de-lis too: it was well into the late Medieval period before Englanish kings quit trying to 'regain' the various bits of France they claimed to have title to. Through William the Bastard, aka "The Conquerer", I think.

[Peter_Suciu]

Might the crest be for the old British Cinque Ports? 5 towers and a crown unlike 'official crowns' to avoid annoying the authorities. I seem to recall the Cinque Ports had some special status in medieval times, which might explain the fleur-de-lis too: it was well into the late Medieval period before Englanish kings quit trying to 'regain' the various bits of France they claimed to have title to. Through William the Bastard, aka "The Conquerer", I think.

Hi Peter--
Let's see if I can do this without pulling out a reference book. The claim of France is rooted at several points including William the Conquerer in 1066, but then his descendents married various French (French in the sense that France wasn't technically united), including Geoffrey V of Anjou - who married Empress Maltida (the last "Empress in the British Isles until Victoria was crowned Empress of India). She is the Queen during the time of the fictional book/TV mini-series Pillars of the Earth. She fought the war for control of England against her cousin and eventually her son becomes King Henry II. Maltida was empress not of England by the way, but because she was formerly married to a Holy Roman Emperor.

Anyway, Geoffrey and Maltida start the Plantagenet line, which was named for the Planta genista - for the sprig of common bloom Geoffrey wore in his cap.

The Plantagenets last through unbroken essentially until Richard III at the end of the Wars of the Roses. During this time there are numerous treaties that tie England and France together, including the fact that Henry V won out and his son Henry VI was king of both countries when his father and uncle die within a year of his birth.

Henry VI lost his life in the Wars of the Roses, his son is killed, yadda, yadda... Richard III is killed and Henry Tudor - who is not exactly related to the Lancaster side of things, and marries a Yorkist side become king. The Tudors maintain the weak claim to the English crown and the weaker claim to France.

This is picked up when the crown passes to the Stuart's who also have French blood after Elizabeth I dies, and James V of Scotland becomes James I of England. This moves to the Charles I, the Civil War, Charles loses his crown and his head, Charles II goes to France.

Oliver Cromwell has NO claim to France and there is no Kingdom of England but rather a commonwealth. He dies, his son is too weak politically to stay in power, Charles II returns in the restoration...

James II, his son, is sent packing in the Glorious Revolution and William (of Orange) and Mary (James' daughter) jointly rule, followed by William and then Queen Anne, James other daughters - talk about family feud.

When Anne dies... the throne passes to the Hanover branch of the family and introduces George I (who never even learned English, hated the food, the weather, etc.). At that point ALL claims to France were dropped. That is 1714. So the French claim lasted more or less from 1066 to 1714.

The final footnote is that there was the final Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Prentender) who tried to rally the Jacobite cause with the rebellion in Scotland. That ended at Culoden in 1746... and hence no chance of a union between England and France.

I think that is all correct - but I did so from memory... so apologies if I was off a bit. I've read quite a bit about this and written a bit about it as well.



As for as the Cinque Ports, I don't believe so as that crown has sails on it.

My guess would be 1920s actually when wealthy British citizens would vacation/holiday in the south of France in the summer months. Could be something there for holidays.