Cap Badge - Australian Commonwealth Military Forces The Rising Sun badge, also known as the General Service Badge or the Australian Army Badge, is the official insignia of the Australian Army and is worn on the brim of a slouch hat or the front of a peaked cap (select appointments only). The badge is readily identified with the spirit of ANZAC, the legend of the Australian soldier (or digger), and the esprit de corps of the Army itself, due to its association with the landings at Gallipoli in 1915. Today, new recruits receive the iconic badge with their initial issue of equipment, which happens within their first three days of enlistment. In 1902 a badge was urgently sought for the Australian contingents raised after Federation for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The most widely accepted version of the origin of the badge is that which attributes the selection of its design to a British officer, Major General Sir Edward Hutton, the newly appointed General Officer Commanding, Australian Military Forces. The design was subsequently first worn by the Australian Commonwealth Horse. Hutton had earlier received a "Trophy of Arms" as a gift from Major Joseph Gordon, a long standing military acquaintance, comprising mounted cut and thrust swords and triangular Martini Henri bayonets arranged in a semicircle around a brass crown. To Hutton the shield was symbolic of the co-ordination of the Naval and Military Forces of the Commonwealth. Three different designs were created, and they formed the basis of a new design created in 1903, which was subsequently adopted as the General Service Badge in 1911. The original badge bore the words 'Australian Commonwealth Military Forces' on the scroll at the bottom of the badge. However, as the original design was created in haste it was subsequently redesigned, and was later worn by soldiers of the First Australian Imperial Force in World War I and the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) in World War II, being used on both the slouch hat and the tunic, while it was also used in some Regimental badges. Since its inception the basic form of the 1904 version has remained unchanged although modifications have been made to the wording on the scroll and to the style of crown.