Rajon Soviet Deputy

[SGM (ret.)]

Someone gave me this pin and in broken English (and my pidgin Russian) told me it was some type of "deputies" pin.

I have no real idea, though, just what it is.

It's fairly small, only about 1cm wide and just a bit higher than that. Maybe a manufacturer's hallmark on the reverse just above the pin mount (or maybe just a bump?).

Thanks,
Mike

[Lapa]

Mike,

It is a Rayon Deputy's badge, but the language is not Russian. I'm sure that someone else will tell you what language it is written in.

Marc

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by SGM (ret.)

Someone gave me this pin and in broken English (and my pidgin Russian) told me it was some type of "deputies" pin.

I have no real idea, though, just what it is.

It's fairly small, only about 1cm wide and just a bit higher than that. Maybe a manufacturer's hallmark on the reverse just above the pin mount (or maybe just a bump?).

Thanks,
Mike

The 'bump' is a factory's trademark.

I know it's not Russian, Ukrainian, or a Central Asian language - maybe Belarussian? It's not too frequent that a "J" shows up in a northern Slavic language alphabet. "Jugoslavia" is southern Slavic.

[Tretov]

A bet is Azerbaijan SSR Regional Deputy, the flag depicted on the pin is the flag of ASSR... Could otherwise be Latvia, perhaps?

[UQWozza]

If what Wikipedia says is correct in its section on RAION, the country that uses RAJON is Latvia.

Simon

[desantnik]

The "bl" or final "y" is what throws me. I don't expect to see that in a Baltic language.

[SGM (ret.)]

Sorry, guys, I ommited to say that I got the pin in Baku, Azerbaijan. (The devil is in the details, as always.)

A "RAYON" ("RAION," "RAJON") is an administrative district? So this pin is for an "(Azerbaijani) District Soviet Deputy"?

For curiosity sake, could someone offer a simple explanation of what such a person might do? Is this a "political" position or, perhaps, a beurocratic position?

Mike

[UQWozza]

Looking into the Azeri/Azerbaijani alphabet I found the following:

In the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani now officially uses the Latin alphabet, but the "Soviet" Cyrillic alphabet is still in wide use. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets for Azerbaijani (although the Cyrillic alphabet has a different order e.g. J is equivalent to Ж).

Before 1929, Azerbaijani was only written in the Arabic alphabet. In 1929–1938 a Latin alphabet was in use (although it was different from the one used now), from 1938 to 1991 the Cyrillic alphabet was used, and in 1991 the current Latin alphabet was introduced, although the transition to it has been rather slow.

So did the J just slip through during the Soviet era or does this suggest a more modern origin?

Simon

[Aharim]

As a result of Khrushchev’s policy of support of local culture in either 1959 or 1963 Azerbaijan replaced the Й with a J as is shown on the Deputy badges of the 1960’s. According to Mekhonoshin (Book on Deputy Badges) the change occurred in 1959. He does not show a badge with document to confirm that but my badge with document dates from 1967, and “J” was in use by then.

Armenia and Belarus badges changed at approximately the same time.