First World War Rising Sun Hat Badge

In 1901 it was felt that a General Service badge was needed for all Commonwealth Forces after Australia’s Federation. The General Officer commanding the Australian Military Forces (1902-1904), Major General Sir Edward HUTTON, received a ‘Trophy of Arms’ from Brigadier General Joseph GORDON that consisted of mounted ‘cut and thrust’ swords with a semi-circle of triangular Martini-Henry bayonets arranged around a crown, representing the cooperation between the British Empire’s naval and military forces.
There are now eight (8) patterns of the ‘Rising Sun’ badge, which is associated with the spirit of ANZAC and the Gallipoli landings of 1915. This badge is the Third Pattern (1904) and was used in the First and Second World War; it was also the template for subsequent patterns of the General Service badge. The badge is now known as the Australian Army badge.