Palm branch

The festive decoration of the field cap was the three-leaf oak leaf or, in winter, the pine branch. This motive was mainly used by the Arkanzas company as the background for various badges, mostly the names of the general staff of the Monarchy were placed on them. In the case of pine branches, a colorful coat of arms was also applied.

Another group of badges had a background that looked more like a palm branch or leaf. A small engraved shield or enamel applique was placed on the lower part of these. These were mostly made for the Christmas holiday. There were also two types of palm branches, one with a narrower shape and rounded end, and a wider, with more pointed end. The post includes a photo of a soldier wearing a badge with more pointed end.

The photo is a high-resolution Fortepan image. The shield attached to the badge can also be seen on it. This is a light-based, with darker pattern representation in the middle. This dark part is probably a red cross. Unfortunately, I have not found such a badge, palm branch with red cross yet. Several branches were decorated with a red cross applique, but none of them are of this shape. Since the badge templates were often made with various appliques, I believe that here too, a red cross applique was attached to the badge base made perhaps for Christmas. I am attaching the Christmas version palm and a red cross badge, which may have similar plate to the one in the picture.