Royal Irish Rifles
 

Interesting badge

Brass but with correct slider and voided scroll ends, I thought RIR badges were all WM

Opinions please, I really appreciate views to grow my knowledge

Absolutely genuine. Very probably would’ve been blackened originally.

Worn 1903- circa 1913. The second battalion were slower to change over and reported wearing the black version in to WW1. I have seen 1st Bn photos in Tidworth circa 1913 with w/m ones.

I seems that this particular badge was never blackened in the first place. No trace remains that I can see. Was this a badge that was struck but never finished with it's black coating or were these sometime worn in the bright?

CB

I have one which has traces of the factory plate finish on it, I’ve never got to the bottom of it’s existence.

I would suspect the majority of these GM badges have either lost their blacking through wear or been chemically stripped at some point for whatever reason.