Greek Sacred Band badge

[giorgos_p]

One of the latest additions to the collection, a badge of the Greek Sacred Band. A struck, textbook example, which has had its c-shaped catch broken off and replaced with a wire-made one. 

 

Regards, 

Giorgos

 

[Charadras]

There is always confusion in translating the name of this unit. The Greek name is ιερός λόχος, literally "sacred company" (company as in the infantry unit). In the Middle East during the war years it tended to be referred to as the "Sacred Brigade" amongst English speakers, while to the French it was the "Bataillon Sacré". My father, a member of the unit for most its operational lifetime, always referred to it as the "Sacred Squadron" in English. This last is probably the most appropriate for what was, from the point of view of orderly military nomenclature, a very unorthodox and rather piratical unit.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Charadras