G. S. Rakovski Academy Badges 1912-2012.

[CtahhR]

The G. S. Rakovski Military Academy was founded in Sofia on 1st March 1912 (The year of the first Balkan War) and opened 4th January 1915, (The year Bulgarian joined the Great War on the side of the central powers). Opening was delayed by the Balkans Wars. It is where the highest level military leaders go to advance their career. I thought I'd put together the timeline of the graduation badges of the institution. All but the first two are also in my collection.

These first two are the Imperial badge awarded until 1944 which features the Order "For Bravery" with the date 1912 which is the date of the founding of the institution. The second is the People's republic variation issued from 1948 until the mid 1950's and on this variation the Imperial Order is replaced with the seldom awarded communist Order "For Bravery" and imperial coat of arms replaced with the communist coat of arms.