Hungarian Parade Badges

[Greg Collins]

There were two big holidays in Hungary that called for massive celebrations, parades and badges. One was the International Day of the Worker- May Day- celebrated, of course, on May 1st (the first of these badges was produced in 1945). The other was Hungarian Liberation Day, celebrated on April 4th (the first of these badges- an example shown here- was produced in 1950). During the Rakosi period, these could be worn on the military uniform for a period of one year following the parade. Here is a group of three badges from the Rakosi period... they're 21mm across.

[Greg Collins]

This is the "grail" of all Hungarian parade badges; the 1955 Liberation Day badge. A Rakosi period badge, it was made for the 10th anniversary of Hungarian liberation from the Nazis. This was an all out, no holds barred, pull out all the stops celebration and this badge reflects that... it's much larger (42mm across) than previous badges and could be worn on the uniform a full 10 years after the parade.

[Greg Collins]

Here's a Kadar period parade badge from 1963. Smaller than the '55 badge, it is still larger (28mm across), and nicer, than the yearly badges from the Rakosi period. It is from an "off" year... the "5 year increment" badges were considerably larger. I don't know what the uniform restriction was on badges from the Kadar period.

[deValcourt]

Very nicely made badges.

Phillip