Thanks for bringing this thread back to life, Philip. While it may sometimes be useful to look to the Soviet model when studying Mongolian awards, it is also important to understand Mongolia.
What you have here is the badge for a Deputy of the Province and Towns Council (Battushig #B09). By "province", Bat means the Aimag (Аймаг). This was worn by members of the administrative councils of the 21 Aimags (though this number fluctuates over time) and the independent industrial towns of of Darkhan and Erdenet.
The Aimag is the basic unit of administration and with the exception of the capital city of Ulanbaatar and these two industrial towns, the remainder of the country is organized into Aimags. It is the major second-tier unit of administration and actually does things.
There are three varieties of Aimag badges, and it is difficult to put dates onto these. The first (Battushig's B08) seems to be earlier than yours, and was used for the Aimags, the capital, and the towns. I would guess (for what that is worth) that it is from the 1960s and early 1970s. The second variety is what you have and I'd guess it is from the late 1970s and 1980s, though by this period a separate badge was used for Ulanbaatar (Battushig B10 and B11). After 1991, a new design of the Aimag badge was introduced (Battushig B14 and B15).
I show these earlier and later Aimag badges below.
The quality of manufacture varies widely, and I think many of these were locally made. There is also the danger with many (though especially with your variety) that the enamel coating discolors, yellows, and makes the central blue stripe look a rather sickly green. I have never seen a screwback badge for these nor have I seen any of them numbered (unlike the khural badges that are always numbered).
It is, by the way, important to distinguish the badge you have from that used in the same period for the next lower level of administration, the Sum (Cум), many of these 331 had limited power with average areas of 4,200 km² and with about 5,000 inhabitants. I have shown this often-confusing badge (B12) below as well (the later Sum badges are B13 and B17). Below the Sum is the Bag and most of these exist on paper only, merely as lists of nomadic families, but they also have badges after 1991 (B16).
I hope this hasn't confused things even more?
I could always add more, of course, and can dig out some documents too if anyone wants . . . . :rolleyes:
What you have here is the badge for a Deputy of the Province and Towns Council (Battushig #B09). By "province", Bat means the Aimag (Аймаг). This was worn by members of the administrative councils of the 21 Aimags (though this number fluctuates over time) and the independent industrial towns of of Darkhan and Erdenet.
The Aimag is the basic unit of administration and with the exception of the capital city of Ulanbaatar and these two industrial towns, the remainder of the country is organized into Aimags. It is the major second-tier unit of administration and actually does things.
There are three varieties of Aimag badges, and it is difficult to put dates onto these. The first (Battushig's B08) seems to be earlier than yours, and was used for the Aimags, the capital, and the towns. I would guess (for what that is worth) that it is from the 1960s and early 1970s. The second variety is what you have and I'd guess it is from the late 1970s and 1980s, though by this period a separate badge was used for Ulanbaatar (Battushig B10 and B11). After 1991, a new design of the Aimag badge was introduced (Battushig B14 and B15).
I show these earlier and later Aimag badges below.
The quality of manufacture varies widely, and I think many of these were locally made. There is also the danger with many (though especially with your variety) that the enamel coating discolors, yellows, and makes the central blue stripe look a rather sickly green. I have never seen a screwback badge for these nor have I seen any of them numbered (unlike the khural badges that are always numbered).
It is, by the way, important to distinguish the badge you have from that used in the same period for the next lower level of administration, the Sum (Cум), many of these 331 had limited power with average areas of 4,200 km² and with about 5,000 inhabitants. I have shown this often-confusing badge (B12) below as well (the later Sum badges are B13 and B17). Below the Sum is the Bag and most of these exist on paper only, merely as lists of nomadic families, but they also have badges after 1991 (B16).
I hope this hasn't confused things even more?
I could always add more, of course, and can dig out some documents too if anyone wants . . . . :rolleyes:
