France Unidentified French badge

[Brett Hendey]

Can anyone identify the badge shown here? I was overwhelmed by the number of French badges on Internet sites and failed to find this one.

Brett

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

It must be 10th Marine Artillery regiment.

No idea of the date though...

[Brett Hendey]

Many thanks, Chris. I was looking for an oriental connection, rather than concentrating on the cannons and anchor.

Regards

Brett

[Chris Boonzaier]

From waht I see it must date between 1958-1962.

Best

Chrs

[Brett Hendey]

Thanks again. This badge is from a collection recently acquired by a local militaria shop. They all seem to be of the same vintage, so perhaps the dates you have given will help with other identifications.

Regards

Brett

[Paul L Murphy]

This badge is probably maker marked by Drago on the reverse. Can you advise what is the address shown for them on the reverse of the badge since that can help pin down the date of manufacture. Also is there a 3 or 4 digit number (probably prefixed by the letter H or G) ? This can be tracked down to identify the year that the badge design was officially registered.

[Tim B]

My guess would be Korean War era with the center(Ying & Yang)motif.

That would coincide with the dates Chris figured.

Tim

[Brett Hendey]

Thanks to Paul and Tim for your helpful replies.

Paul

I will be in the shop on Monday and will check the details you mention.

Tim

I was hoping that the badge did have a Korean War connection, hence my interest in it. The only other French badge that I know was associated with the Korean War was that of the famous Battalion Francaise - Organisation des Nations Unies (BF - ONU). I would very much like to acquire one of those.

Regards

Brett

[Paul L Murphy]

Just did some more digging. The badge will probably be numbered 385 on the reverse. It was originally the design of the 10th Colonial Artillery Regiment which was the same design but had 10 RAC and not 10 RAMa. The regiment changed its name to 10 RAMa in 1958. This name lasted until 1962 when it became the 10th GAMa (Groupe Artillerie de Marine)so this badge can be dated between 1958-62. The symbolism comes from the regiments involvement in Indochina and the duality of the soldier's job and has nothing to do with Korea.

[Tim B]

Well, like I said, it was a guess!

With that said, here's a Korean flag for reference and it has some of the same attributes, ones that I am not familiar with from any country in Indochina.

Tim

[Brett Hendey]

Paul and Tim, thank you for your posts. I am constantly amazed by the depth of knowledge of GMIC members.

I am disappointed that the unit concerned had no connection with the Korean War but, since I only had a record of the French infantry battalion in that war, it wasn't too surprising.

Brett

[Paul L Murphy]

I should clarify my comment that the symbolism has nothing to do with Korea. The reason this unit chose that badge as their symbol has nothing to do with Korea. They chose it to symbolise their involvement in Indochina (the Yin-Yang symbol originally comes from Chinese culture so it is actually an early cultural import into both Indochina and Korea).

[Brett Hendey]

Paul

The reverse of the badge was inscribed exactly as you had indicated: DRAGO PARIS and H.385

Thanks again for sharing your expertise.

Brett

[No one]

Dear Members,

 

Brief history, created the 1st April 1919 change often of names and is twice dissolved.

Is recreated on the 5th November 1945 as " 10e Régiment d'Artillerie Coloniale" then on the 3rd March 1946 is send to Indochina until the 5th November 1955 when he went to Algeria.

On the 1st December 1958, became the "10e Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine" and is finally dissolved on the 30th December 1967.

 

H.385 means that the insignia of the 10e RAC was homologué (recognize officially) by the Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre in 1947 as the 385th insignia of the Army. The 10e RAMa kept the same homologation.

 

The "yin & yang" is a symbol taoist found in Mongolia, Korea, Japan, China and Vietnam (âm dương).

 

Actually it's the "8 trigrams of taoism", also called bagua (bát quái in Vietnamese) which is represented.

 

Yours sincerely,

Patrick