ChrisW

Noor, Nice find! Keep in mind that Egypt and Syria were (officially) one country, the United Arab Republic, from 1958-1961, with (officially) a combined military command. They seem to have shared some medals during that time -- which partly explains why this ribbon bar has the Victory Medal and Army Day medal. (Although of course the Victory Medal was created before 1958, so it remains a mystery why it's on this ribbon bar.) You're right, the Victory Medal was a single class commemorative medal, but like several other Egyptian commemoratives, it's got a gilt star on the ribbon. No idea why, other than "bling." Cheers, Chris

The Arabic probably reads "al-Koliyya al-Bahriyya" or "the Navy College." In my mind, that's what it should read. But the lettering is a little poor, making me think maybe they were manufactured in a non-Arabic speaking country. Your story about how you got them is pretty convincing -- I bought some similar ones years ago, which were sold to me as Egyptian. Now I have my doubts. Thanks for showing these!

The most recent issue of the US Army's "Army History" magazine has a piece on US Army soldiers who received d the German Gold Cross for Valor last year for a medevac operation in Afghanistan. They're the first non-Germans to have received the medal. http://www.history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH81(W).pdf

A lot of them look Egyptian... and not the sort of higher ranking orders and decorations you'd expect for a head of state. Top row #2: Order of Liberation? Third row #2-3: Military Medal of Duty? Seventh row #2-3: Medal of Training? Seventh row #4: Medal of Exceptional Promotion? Eighth row #1: Medal of Long Service and Good Example? I'll bet there are a lot of other Arab and African awards here, but I leave it to the experts to identify. It truly is a cheap-looking ribbon bar. You'd expect better from someone who seemed to enjoy style.

Beautiful! How large is this? Was it actually worn? Contemporary Egyptian judges usually wear a green sash, with a republican eagle and/or small gold stars on the front. Would this have been worn in a similar fashion?

A quick Google search turned up this link, with useful info and photos. http://iraqimilitary.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6&p=746

"People's Control"? How wonderfully Orwellian -- but appropriate for the DDR!

Front-page article in today's Washington Post about the proliferation of challenge coins across US government agencies and the private sector http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/21/AR2011022104708.html?hpid=artslot

This is an example, from the Giza Traffic Police, of the full-length brassards worn on both arms by conscripts directing traffic.

Tourist and Antiquities Police. Compare to the previous example, which was fully embroidered -- this one has a brass cartouche, and is more common.

Electricity Police. (Seriously. Proof that the Egyptian Police -- before the recent revolution -- was too large and had too much time on its hands.)

Giza Governorate Security Forces

Sharqiyya Governorate Security Forces

Ed, I highly recommend Barry Jason Stein's 1997 book "US Army Patches: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cloth Unit Insignia" (ISBN 978-1570031793). I had a copy, sold it, and now regret it -- it's going on Amazon for about twice what I paid for it.

The Bichay family still runs the firm, and their retail shop still exists in downtown Cairo, on Sharia Talaat Harb. They still manufacture military ranks and insignia, as well as civilian items (key chains, desk medals, etc.) I don't know if they still manufacture orders and decorations, or if existing stocks fill all the government's needs. The store is very hit-or-miss. The staff sometimes is friendly and will indulge foreign tourists by selling them items, sometimes they're sticklers for the rules which prohibit sales of military insignia. They may occasionally have medals or ribbons for sale, but mostly the military insignia are rank insignia, branch of service (collar badges and sleeve shields), buttons, etc. Chris

This is one of the very few modern Iraqi medals I've seen that's attractive! Thanks for posting!

It's Egyptian airborne insignia. But given that Iraq and Egypt seem to have used similar commando insignia, Iraq may also have adopted it. Many Egyptian examples have a manufacturers mark on the back, but this one doesn't. But no reason to think it's not authentic.

Great photos! It's always nice to see period photos of uniforms and insignia -- these are often hard to find. The photos are from the 1980s or 1990s I'm guessing?

Wow! Absolutely first-rate information! Many many thanks, Brian and Owain!

The obverse (first picture) has the Palestinian and Syrian flags, and says "The political administration." The overall ugliness of this thing hurt my eyes, so that I couldn't read the reverse....

Very interesting! Thanks for your correction, Bob!

Interesting. The stars and eagles are Iraqi officers ranks (1 star = 2nd Lt., 2 stars = 1st Lt., 3 stars = Capt., eagle = Major). But these are normally worn on shoulder straps not on collar badges.

Caveat: I do not own a Pinzgauer, nor have I driven one, nor do I have any particular expertise about them.... Personally, I think they're awesome looking, and it would certainly make for an unusual and versatile vehicle, depending on what you're thinking of using it for. They're pretty widely used by militaries around the world, so I would imagine their reputation is pretty good. The wikipedia page has some basic info on users and capabilities.

It's a French AU-F1 GCT, 155mm self-propelled gun. The Iraqis bought huge amounts of weapons from anyone who would sell during the 1980s -- France probably led the way. http://www.military-today.com/artillery/f1_gct.htm

The first wing could also be Egyptian.