SAS good or bad
 

Have these two SAS badges in my collection I am of the opinion that they are good but after reading all the threads on the forum I am not so sure. Could anybody please enlighten me if they are good what era and country are they from.

The cloth beret badge looks like an original late war badge.

As for the badge with a slider I'm unsure of its originality.

Paul

Hi Paul,

That is great bought the cloth badge a while ago on eBay, looked good to me at the time but not totally sure good to get a second opinion. Thought it was British and good to hear late war era. Metal badge with slider was bought from a dealer as original so would be good to get some feed back on this one, I am aware they are hugely faked.

Many Thanks,

Colin.

This badge looks like your metal one?
My parents picked this badge up for me in the early 1970's, maybe a little earlier than that.
It came from either the Gaunt or Firmin shop in London, I can't remember which offhand.
It originally had a bronzed finish, looked little more than dirt, a single wipe with Brasso or Duraglit got rid of that.

As far as I am aware any post war issued metal badge was not worn by the Regulars but by the TA and then in No1 Dress hats.

I have seen several portraits of 21 SAS parading in No 1 Dress Blues in the 1960s. The badges were bi-metal.

Hi Gents,

Thanks for the feed back, so I am looking at a sixties 21 SAS no 1 dress cap badge.

Sorry, no you (and I) have badges that may very well be unofficial as in badges that were commissioned by someone simply to sell as "SAS badges".
All I can provide in the way of info is that they were being sold and presumably produced by Firmin or Gaunt at their London outlet around at least 50 years ago.
We have to be guided by the experts on this one.

No because they were bi=metal.

Hi Alan
Got a bit confused I think I have it know, so brass badge could be TA but is likely to be unofficial. Will need to keep a look out for a good bi metal badge.

Thanks Colin.

Afraid not. Brass is repro but BM is ‘possibly’ TA. Unless it has provenance it’s infinitely more likely to be repro than a badge worn on No. 1 dress as Alan mentions. There have been BM ones sold on websites as genuine, including regimentalbadges.com, sporting the large font post 1950s J.R.Gaunt London mark. My personal opinion is you do see repros with large letter Gaunt London mark (e.g. https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...5&postcount=33 and https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...36&postcount=1) so I do not buy that this mark gives any credence whatsoever. Again like so often with SF items, for me it comes down to provenance. There is also a thread claiming these Gaunt London marked BM badges were for wear at the coronation, again I find this fanciful.

Hi Luke,

Thanks for the reminder regarding MM manufacturing dates and badge eras, seems to be a bit of a mine field, did pick this badge up from a dealer so will have a chat with him. Thanks again for the expert advice and clarification.

Colin.