San Marco Cuff Patch

[Waffenreich]

Good evening gents,

I received a very nice group of items today brought home by a US soldier who fought in North Africa and Italy.

Among the German tropical items were these pieces. I think the SM patch is very nice and wish it wasn't hacked along the right edge.

Any info on the patch, button, and ribbon bar would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

vr

Bob

[Waffenreich]

Nobody??

[Semovente]

Hello Waffenreich ...nice lot of items ......great shame about the San Marco cloth badge been a bit nibbled !..they were worn on the cuffs/basco of the marines tunics as you can see in the pics !...Semovente

[Waffenreich]

Thanks for posting the drawings Ed.

I agree, it's a shame and it seems to me that it may have been torn off of the uniform.

Again, appreciate you dropping by. Have a good weekend!

Bob

Hello Waffenreich ...nice lot of items ......great shame about the San Marco cloth badge been a bit nibbled !..they were worn on the cuffs/basco of the marines tunics as you can see in the pics !...Semovente

[Francisque]

Nice

Here's mine.

[Waffenreich]

Very nice!!

Nice

Here's mine.

[ETN]

Sorry it's such a small photo, but it's the only one I could find.

[Dennis S]

The book is open during Peace and closed during War .

[tankredi]

The book is open during Peace and closed during War .

I´ve heard so, too.
Do you think they actually changed all pins on berets and all cuff patches once the war broke out?

[Waffenreich]

* An open book is a symbol of the state's sovereignty (many depictions are of doges kneeling before such representation)

* A closed book, however, is considered as a symbol of a delegated sovereignty, and hence the public courts

* An open book (and the sword on the ground is not visible) is popularly considered as a symbol of peace for the state of Venice, but this is not corroborated by any historical source

*A closed book and a drawn sword are popularly but mistakenly considered as a symbol of the state in war

* Finally, an open book and a sword are considered as a symbol of public justice.

These interpretations are not universally accepted as the Republic of Venice (La Serenissima) never codified its symbols.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_Saint_Mark

[Dennis S]

I´ve heard so, too.
Do you think they actually changed all pins on berets and all cuff patches once the war broke out?

No I doudt it, but when they struck the collar tab lions during the RSI they certainly did.

[tankredi]

No I doudt it, but when they struck the collar tab lions during the RSI they certainly did.

Yes, the Rsi collar tabs all have the closed book.

[Ironcrown]

The other items are:
1) What I think to be a cufflink button
2) Enlisted men collar star
3) Italian Royal Navy button, I think for NCOs
4) War campaign ribbon with 4 stars, each star indicating one year of war, so this one was used in 1943 by a soldier who was in the game from the beginning.

[Waffenreich]

The other items are:
1) What I think to be a cufflink button
2) Enlisted men collar star
3) Italian Royal Navy button, I think for NCOs
4) War campaign ribbon with 4 stars, each star indicating one year of war, so this one was used in 1943 by a soldier who was in the game from the beginning.

Appreciate you coming on and providing the clarification on the other items.

I was thinking the item you describe as maybe a cufflink was a miniature War Campaign ribbon for the lapel of civilian clothes.

Thanks again!

Regards!

Bob