54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment ladder badge worn by a unknown veteran

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment ladder badge worn by an unknown veteran who served in Company A. The four tier, silver metal badge features four, identically shaped, connected bars attached to a short, light blue, plain, silk ribbon. The bars are roughly rectangular with slightly raise points at the center of the long sides, scrolled comma-shaped flourishes in each of the corners, and bookended by a set circles on the short edges. The bars have thin, embossed, blackened frames and the circle shapes on either side of the bar are partially formed by semicircular concentric blackened lines. Each bar features embossed, centered, blackened text that reads [CO. A.], [54], [MASS.], and [VOL. INF.] from top bar to bottom bar. The back of the bars are plain and there is a pin and C clasp soldered to the top bar with the ribbon adhered below.

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