Unknown Zeppelin badge

[Wolf]

Hello everyone,

I've seen this badge with an anchor and a zeppelin in oak leaves. Since I have never seen such a badge, I was curious and did some research. But I couldn't find anything about it.

While it is offered on a few websites, the information varies widely.

Most claim it is from World War I, when the zeppelins were still part of the Imperial Navy. Others say it is from the Weimar Republic and a single one claims it to be from the TR. (Which I find unlikely since there is no swastika.)

There also seems to be disagreement about its use. Some claim it is an official hat insignia, others an unofficial unit cap insignia. Still others claim it's from a children's hat and one claims it's a sleeve badge.

There is not even agreement on whether it is military or civilian...


Since my research has turned up nothing, I was wondering if any of you have come across this badge and can tell me what period it was from and who wore it and how it was worn? Or is it just a modern fake?

Thank you in advance for your efforts. Every contribution is highly appreciated.

Best regards
Wolf

[Chopperman]

I've never seen one like it before so I reached out to a couple of
guys who collect mainly Imperial aviation badges and both of them
had pretty much the same answer. It is a modern fantasy item.

[Gwar]

Why are there so many of these found on dealer sites ? Surely the fakers didn't spend time and money to mass produce a nothing, odd..

[Chopperman]

Why are there so many of these found on dealer sites ? Surely the fakers didn't spend time and money to mass produce a nothing, odd..

I have no answer for that, as I said, I have never seen one before but I also don't go looking for aviation badges.

I did do a forum search in both the Imperial and Weimer sub-forums over at WAF and in both
cases, there was not one of these posted. I searched back as far as 2004. I even took a look through
Robert Pandis's book on aviation badges. -- nothing. That's when I sent out a couple emails with the
pictures posted above.

It's a neat looking badge, I would like it if it did indeed turn out to be real.

[MAP]

whatever it is, I find it very odd an official military award/cap badge would have the word Zeppelin written on it.

If period, I would assume civilian/patriotic.

[Wolf]

Thanks for taking the time to research it Greg.

It's really mysterious. I couldn't find it anywhere either, there doesn't seem to be a post on the internet or in my reference books about it. I couldn't find it in historical photos either. It only seems to show up on dealer sites... Here it seems to be mostly American sites, although I've also found it on British and German sites.

[Wolf]

I've put together a few examples here that I found on dealer websites.

Interestingly, the needles seem to vary. But the soldered joints of the needles make me skeptical, as they often contrast strongly with the color of the badge and don't really look old to me. The two lowest specimens also make me extremely skeptical, as one was attached to fabric and one to a hat (for which it seems to be too big)






Source: emadals.com




Source: london-medals.co.uk






Source: derrittmeister.com






Source: team-militaria.de






Source: griffinmilitaria.com




Source: invaluable.com (US auction: MiddleManBrokers)




Source: picuki.com




Source: worthpoint.com




Source: antik-buchwald.com

[Wolf]

I'm curious if anyone knows more about it.

Best regards
Wolf

[Chopperman]

whatever it is, I find it very odd an official military award/cap badge would have the word Zeppelin written on it.

If period, I would assume civilian/patriotic.

I agree completely. I also think that a military badge would not have the word "Zepplin"
spelled out on it.

[Gwar]

Pretty remarkable that the fakers went as far as to have at least 4-5 different pin attachments, I think there is a story behind this type of insignia and the airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin..JMO