I was about to say more recent because it has bolts on the back rather than lugs. When I had another look now tough I noticed some discolouration around the bolts which could of course mean they might have been added later. The eagle is exactly the same size as a SAAF cap badge.
I thought it might be a plaque badge or possibly a prototype senior officers cap badge when they changed to the new style badge.
Interesting to read about the eagle WO badge design. Do you have a copy of the picture/article?
I have a copy from an Old Kommando magazine somewhere in my files which also showed eagles being worn on the cuff of the proposed new SAAF blue uniform (a la Australia in WW2) sometime in the 1950s. They did of course introduce the blue-grey uniform but with standard army-style ranks.
Would the eagle and wreath design have been considered around the same time as the Lion in wreath WOII badge worn briefly by the Navy?
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