Royal Pakistan Navy buttons

[Guzzman]

I have already posted this query on the 'Buttons' section of the forum but, so far, without any response so I will post it here in the hope that I can get an answer to my question!

Does anyone know what buttons were worn by the Royal Pakistan Navy between Indian independence in 1947 (and the establishment of Pakistan) and Pakistan becoming a republic in 1956?

Post independence the Royal Indian Navy continued to wear the buttons that had been in use by the Royal Indian Navy prior to 1947 and only changed them when India became a republic in 1950.

Was it a similar situation in Pakistan and did they continue to wear the old Royal Indian Navy buttons too?

I know that both nations continued to fly the White Ensign from their warships prior to becoming republics, so it is quite possible that they both continued to wear the same uniform buttons! Can anyone give me a definitive answer to this?

Pete

[pinfrin]

Attd may have some clues. If you have it OK,
else I will take another look at my copy.

Right after '47 the IA replaced the Crown etc from the crossed
swords centre / junction and replaced it with the 4 Ashoka Lions*
Not too sure whether the shoulder insignia continued
as before till 1950. Some pics indicate that but some book
refs suggest otherwise in bits and pieces.

* have wandered off of in the '60s period perhaps. Still looking.

Ditto RIN / RPN/ PN / IN what cap badges 47 to 50 ? / 56
The Tilted stock anchor was retained by the PN but straightened
by the IN in 1950.

Curious why the stock was tilted in '34 - a connect to 1830 perhaps ?

[Guzzman]

Thanks for the response.

Following independence the Royal Indian Navy retained all the insignia it had worn before independence and didn't adopt the Ashoka Lions until India became a republic in 1950. Nothing changed - probably because the plan was to become a republic as quickly as possible and it therefore wasn't worth changing the naval insignia. It may also have been due to naval conservatism!

Pakistan waited until 1956 to become an Islamic Republic. Until then she was the Dominion of Pakistan. There was therefore a longer period between the establishment of an independent Pakistani navy and the country becoming a republic. Once an Islamic Republic was established the Pakistan Navy adopted the dictinctly islamic buttons it wears today, But they were faced with a different situation from India in 1947. There an Indian Navy already existed but Pakistan had to start from scratch, although it's personnel and ships had originally formed part of the old Indian Navy and had worn the same uniforms and insignia as their counterparts in India.

And of course it should be remembered that pre-independence RIN insignia and buttons did not actually include the word 'India' on them so could have been worn by either navy. Also the introduction of new buttons would have been pretty low down on the Royal Pakistan Navy's list of priorities as they were having to establish an entirely new naval structure and establishment. And , of course, initially personnel would simply have gone on wearing the uniforms they had when the Royal Pakistani Navy was established. Any changes, if they took place, would have been very gradual.

I think the only way for me to confirm what was worn between 1947 and 1956 is to contact the Pakistan Navy and ask them - and hope that someone actually knows the answer!

Pete