I’ve recently been fortunate enough to obtain a large archive of a former Pathfinder, evader, and post war member of Coastal Command. I’ve managed to ID just about all of the small items that came with the archive, but this small pin beats me. (Although it seems familiar to both my wife and I) It seems to depict a Pelican feeding or shielding its young and may have nothing to do with his RAF service or indeed anything military, but on the off chance I wondered if anyone could shed any light on it please?
The only thing I’m certain of is that it’s British- being hallmarked silver to the rear.
By: Stan - 19th May 2008 at 16:07
Thanks chaps the Pelican connection looks pretty convincing, thanks. What a very knowledgeable lot frequent this forum!
By: bazv - 19th May 2008 at 12:36
This ‘Pelican in Her Piety’ is fairly similar
http://www.edgbastonoldchurch.org.uk/05pelicaninherpiety.pdf
By: bazv - 19th May 2008 at 12:31
Further to that,the pelican was long used as a symbol for early christianity and charity,’The Pelican in Her Piety’ is very similar in layout but I suppose the wings could have been reshaped to make a better badge shape.
But it could have military connections poss S Africa,as has been posted.
There is a pub in Wales named ‘The Pelican in Her Piety’ nr bridgend
http://www.pelicanpub.co.uk/index.html
cheers baz
By: airart - 19th May 2008 at 06:13
Another long shot. To me it doesn’t look like a unit badge, more like a personal item:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070210205152AA7uAAb
Richard J. Caruana
By: Ballykellybrat - 18th May 2008 at 20:12
Complete guess – 35 Squadron South African Air Force has a pelican standing on a globe as its badge. There were close connections between RAF Coastal Command & 35 (Sunderlands & Shackletons). A badge presented by Avro for the SAAF Shack crews perhaps?
By: exmpa - 18th May 2008 at 19:59
The only “Pelican” that springs to mind is the Central Flying School (CFS) one, but it is quite different from that. What is the Assay Office and date letter of the hallmark? That would at least give a clue to the era. The British hallmark however only indicates the place of manufacture, I have seen items with Indian and West African military connections with Birmingham hallmarks, mainly pre WW2 though.
You are right, it does seem familiar.
Rgds
exmpa
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May 18, 2008 at 5:12 pm