🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Mystery Brass Hat/Cap Insignia, date range 1780 - 1924??

JDO · Feb 18, 2026

Hello all - I need any help possible to identify this relic. It is thin stamped brass and appears to be a cap device. It would have been attached by the four corners (lower left corner tab is missing). I found this about 30 years ago on a remote island beach near where the Savannah River flows into the Atlantic (found in dry sand above the high tide line). Other relics and coins from this site date from the 1780s to the 1920s. This beach was wiped out by one of the hurricanes in the 2000s. The best info I can gather is that the wreath seems to be a nautical design. The shield shape has me confused. There are a lot of shields on US items (coins, buttons, insignia, etc) but none quite like this one. And the device in the center is a complete mystery. My rough guess is an oar or paddle. I tried to research historic brown water navy insignia with no luck. It has no makers mark or numbers or letters. It is about 2" wide and tall. Please see the pictures and let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!

creskol · Feb 19, 2026

It looks like and old Cricket logo or award to me.

JDO · Feb 19, 2026

creskol said:
It looks like and old Cricket logo or award to me.

Yes, I have thought the same thing - the item in the middle looks like a cricket bat. But I never thought there were organized cricket clubs in the US in the 1800s, until just now when my browser AI told me there was! Check this out: "On the national level, cricket was played across over 20 states by the 1850s, with teams in cities like New York, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, Baltimore, >>Savannah<<, and Milwaukee. The St. George’s Cricket Club in New York (founded 1839) and the Union Cricket Club in Philadelphia (founded 1843) were among the earliest organized clubs. The Intercollegiate Cricket Association was formed in 1881, uniting schools like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. " Amazing, I would have never guessed. This was found near Savannah, GA. I found one other relic nearby, a token that reads "Loyal Union League" in the shape of an "S" for Savannah. Very good call, thanks, you may be on to something. I will research this.