I was rooting around in my box of "odds and ends" that don't really fit elswhere in my collection (or elsewhere on the Forum to be honest) and thought members might find this of interest;
It is an Angolan special forces operators breast badge.
Part of The Angolan 16th Brigade they were trained by 'Executive Outcomes' a private military company of (in my opinion) at best dubious and at worst nefarious motivation and somewhat murky nature.
Formed in 1989 by a former South African officer ostensibly to train special forces of countries in the region (not supposed to become directly involved in conflict) they have had a fairly clandestine existence and little is known of their true operational history but you can make up your own minds by reading at least the political news surrounding them. They have also been associated with Sandline International and Sterling Corporate Services (very informative or is that "Nondescript" titles !).
Dissolved in 1989 the company was re-formed in late 2020 and the current mission statement is just a little light in specifics! As I say you can read about it easily enough.
Anyway, as for the badge. It is heavy (36g) solid metal which by density and weight against size feels like brass, die-cast and thickly electroplated in silver and gold colour. It has two reverse "tack" pins with white nylon clutches. There is an undiscernible mark on the reverse which might be a maker mark as the same mark exists on all examples I have seen and if it had a better fixing we would call it a high quality modern piece.
I honestly do not recall where or from whom I got it but I have met a few "funny buggers" over the years
I hope this is of interest
Regards
MarkCobra.obv.jpgCobra.rev.jpg
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