Colonial "Elephant" Badge

[Tom Y]

is it also a heavy buntmetall badge, isn't it?

Yup, very heavy.

[John Doe]

Today Detlev sold another one



Regards, Javier

[VerKuilen Ager]

Does anyone have info on what criteria entitlement was based on? I have an general sense but would like clarification on a couple points. Cheers, Adam

Well, here's a summary of what Klietmann had to say. He goes on and on about confusion regarding the date of creation (for the badge, not the Universe ), which was either late in 1921 or early in 1922. It was established by the Ministry for Reconstruction, with the final regulations set in April, 1922. All colonial Germans who had been active in protecting the interests of the colonies during the World War could apply, as could those in the homeland who had contributed to the defense and interests of the colonies during the war. In a few cases, foreigners qualified (for example, in 1928, crew members of the Hungarian cruiser S.M.S. Empress Elizabeth were put on the list).

Design and production of the badge was given to a sculpter by the name of Karl Möbius, and he retained the copyright on the design. Recipients received an entitlement document and had to buy the badge from Möbius, who delivered the first batch in July of 1922.

Applications dragged on until November 1938, with issuing authority having passed during the years from the Ministry of Reconstruction to the Foreign Office, and finally to Hitler's ministries. Over 8,000 authorizations were made and a few additional awards were granted after 1938 on an "exceptions" basis. (Obviously, not all those entitled to the piece would have purchased it, so the 8,000 number doesn't indicate much. In fact, there was probably nothing to stop someone from buying several examples if they were so inclined, which makes the number of even less use. The general availability of these over the years suggests to me that the number produced was several degrees of magnitude beyond the 8,000.)

Position of wear was on the left breast.

The pieces were struck in "kupferbronze" and aluminum. The width varies between 33.5 and 34 mm, with the height at 39.1 mm, and weight at 9.2 grams. Klietmann noted that unauthorized copies began appearing about 1955.

[Mike Dunn]

Are all of these badges maker marked like this and is the pinback device the same on all original badges. Thanks, Mike