"Rising Sun Badge" was probably modelled on a trophy consisting of a collection of bayonets radiating in a semi-circle from a crown. This trophy, designed by Major J.M. Gordon and later presented to Major-General Sir Edward Hutton, is now held at Army Office in Canberra. Apparently when the 1st Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse, was being raised for Boer War service in 1902 Hutton suggested that their badge be ‘something like’ the trophy.
Such a badge (in three different designs) was struck and was used as the basis of a new design created in 1903 and adopted as the General Service Badge in 1911. The badge bore the title ‘Australian Commonwealth Military Forces’ on the scroll at the bottom until 1949 when the word ‘Commonwealth’ was deleted. In 1972 the inscription was shortened again to ‘Australia’ and other minor changes were made to the design. The inscription now reads, ‘The Australian Army’.
The rising sun design has also been used in regimental badges and the badge was worn on both the slouch hat and the tunic in both AIFs. It has been suggested that the association of the badge with the rising sun came from the trademark of a popular ‘Rising Sun’ brand of jam, but others say it represented the rising sun from the start. Rising sun designs (probably related to the image of Australia as ‘a young nation’ and ‘a new Britannia’) had appeared on colonial coins and military insignia for decades before the creation of the modern rising sun badge.
How to cite this entry:
"Rising Sun Badge" The Oxford Companion Australian Military History. Ed Peter Dennis, Jeffrey Grey, Ewan Morris, Robin Prior and Jean Bou. Oxford University Press 2009.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 1 October 2011
