BADGE: AUSTRALIAN RISING SUN COLLAR BADGE, AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH MILITARY FORCES

Proudly worn by soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Australian Imperial Forces in both World Wars, the ‘Rising Sun’ badge has become an integral part of Digger tradition. The distinctive shape, worn on the upturned brim of a slouch hat, is readily identified with the spirit of ANZAC. Yet despite the badge’s historic significance, hypothetical theories as to its origin are more numerous than its seven extended points.
In 1902 a badge was urgently sought for the Australian contingents raised after Federation for service in South Africa during the Boer War. Probably the most widely accepted version of the origin of this badge is that which attributes the selection of its design to a British officer, Major General Sir Edward Hutton, KCB, KCMG, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Forces. He had earlier received as a gift from Brigadier General Joseph Gordon, a military acquaintance of long-standing, a “Trophy of Arms” comprising mounted cut and thrust swords and triangular Martini Henri bayonets arranged in a semi-circle around a brass crown. To Major General Hutton the shield was symbolic of the coordination of the Naval and Military Forces of the Commonwealth.
Other modifications have followed, though the central feature of the "Rising Sun", the collection of bayonets radiating in a semi-circle from a crown, remains an integral part of Australian military tradition.