Long Cruise Badge

[otlichnik]

I once tried to address the question of "issue" on my website (without a whole lot of luck).

Personally, I don't like the term "commemorative" to describe "issue" of an award since technically many official badges and medals are commemorative - the 50th Anniversary of the KGB badge, the 70th Anniversary of the USSR Armed Forces medal, etc.

I find it easier to look at the issuing or authorising body. Thus genuine Soviet medals were issued/authorized by the federal state government - the SS of the USSR. There are modern medals issued by the Russian Federation government and medals issued by the Russian Communist Party - in fact, by a splinter group which still calls itself the Soviet Communist Party (CPSU). Obviously, the medals they issue are not genuine Soviet or Russian medals but they are genuine party medals.

The same is true of badges. Most badges were authorized by order of the Ministry of Defence (MO), or People's Commissariat of Defence (NKO) or the KGB, etc. That is by the top level authority of such a body. They were then official throughout this body. However, technically a lower body or commander - say a ship commander - could authorize issue of a commemorative badge. Thus such a ship badge could be officially worn on the ship when authorized by the commander but would not be allowed at a higher review, on another ship, etc.

Similarly some, but not all of the Republican KGBs issued 50th anniversary badges, and a few issued 60th. Some did not. I have never heard of a 50th Belorussian KGB badge, or Azebaidzani, or Turkmenistani or any Baltic!! Such badges were authorized by the head of the Republican KGB and the USSR KGB.

The question is which of these many commemorative ship badges are actually authorized by some ship commander or fleet commander and which are pure fantasy made by the factory???

Shawn