Description
GERMANY – PATRIOTIC PIN – DEUTSCHE FLOTTEN OPFERTAG 1 OCTOBER 1916 BADGE
This is a Deutsche Flotten Opfertag 1 October 1916 Badge. It is a high-quality pin that was created on the occasion of the Deutsche Flotten Opfertag (German Fleet Day of Sacrifice )1 Oktober 1916. The German people were among the most patriotic and generous citizens before, during and after WW I. They were constantly called on to sacrifice or donate money to various causes. For example, when Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin needed money to build his early zeppelins, he called on the people for help. Fund-driving efforts for airplanes prior to the war used the same tactic. Money was raised for U-Boote and the Navy during WW I. Many such drives actually were directed toward veterans (similar to current efforts in the USA to help fund support for wounded veterans suffering from devastating wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan).
This particular badge is amazing for the simple reason that it is still complete nearly one-hundred-years later! It consists of a small circular badge (it looks like a life preserver) worked into an anchor. The life preserver’s center features a black Hohenzollern Eagle, with the words “Deutscher Flotten Verien” around its edge. A full-color, paper, kriegsflagge extends from a flagpole attached to the life preserver’s top. On the flag pole we see “Deutsch. Voran.”
Printed on the kriegsflagge’s reverse is the information listed below.
“1 Oktober 1916
Opfertag
für die
Deutsche Flotte.”
In the life preserver’s center on the reverse we see “Flotten 1916 Spende.” At the life preserver’s top and bottom are two pins that allowed the donor to attach the pin to a garment. As delicate as the badge is, I find it amazing that it survived over the years without breaking the overall presentation’s delicate parts.
