Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 54:
Description
WWII USN Naval Aviator Bullion Wings, Hand-Embroidered Wool Breast Insignia. WWII U.S. Navy Naval Aviator bullion breast wings, hand-embroidered in metallic wire on black wool broadcloth, evidently cut from a service uniform. This lot offers a single U.S. Naval Aviator badge worked entirely in bullion wire rather than the more familiar die-struck metal pin-back form. No maker’s mark, tailor’s label, or other identifying stamp is visible on the reverse, consistent with the private and overseas outfitters who supplied such insignia to naval officers throughout the war; no name or unit attribution can be established from the piece itself, and no separate biography attaches to it. The Naval Aviator badge dates in design to 1917, when the fouled anchor beneath a shield, flanked by fully outstretched wings, was adopted to mark qualified Navy pilots. Standard-issue badges were struck in metal for service dress, but officers frequently favored hand-embroidered bullion versions for wear on dress blues, aviation greens, and service coats, since the soft wire-and-thread construction sat more comfortably beneath parachute harnesses, life vests, and flight gear than a rigid pin-back. Bullion wings of this kind were produced in volume by tailoring houses both in the continental United States and by outfitters operating near fleet bases and training stations, and unmarked examples such as this one are typical of that private-purchase manufacture rather than government contract issue. The insignia is worked in fine coiled and couched bullion wire forming the shield, fouled anchor, and feathered wing spans in the traditional pattern; the metallic thread presents an overall oxidized, silvered-grey tone with scattered warmer gold-colored threads surviving in the protected recesses of the stitching. It is mounted to a triangular-cut section of black wool broadcloth with a visible herringbone twill weave on the reverse, the raw cut edges typical of insignia removed from a uniform coat or blouse. No case, mounting card, or accompanying paperwork is present with this lot – it is offered as the single wing alone. Condition is fair to good for a wartime bullion badge: the wire shows heavy, even tarnish and oxidation consistent with age and honest storage, and the wool backing shows minor fraying and thread loss along its cut margins from having been detached from its original garment, with the design itself remaining fully legible throughout. An honest, evocative example of WWII naval aviation insignia, well suited to any collection of U.S. Navy wings or aviator memorabilia.
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