Found this at an antique store and it was labeled - Texas A&M 1886 - the owner said he thought is was an ordnance pin from the Spanish American war but I can't really verify as it looks different than the ones I am pulling up.

It doesn't look like ww1 or ww2 either. Next to my ring size 11.

I can't read what it says on the pin.

Is it "A&M College of Texas"?

Is there a date?

A&M did not adopt maroon and white as colors until the early 1900s.

I don't know where the store got the 1886 date.

Prior to 1961 the Corps of Cadets was organized by branches of the US Army: Infantry, Field Artillery, Chemical Corps, Ordnance, etc.

This looks like a pin from the 30s, 40s, or 50s when the Corps was organized in that way.


EDITED TO ADD: I just took a quick glance at my father's old yearbooks--1941 and 1942--and did not find any Ordnance units in the Corps.

However, I looked in the 1955 Aggieland (online) and there are indeed Ordnance units in the Corps, and their symbol sort of matches the one with the pin. I would say this is a pin from the 1950s.

A&M college of Texas State - was thinking it could be early 1900's with a real military pin added later, pin backings look newer so probably not - thought I would take a chance for $20.

Could it be a sweetheart pin of some sort? Like if you were Ordnance, you'd give your girl this to wear!

Also, if you believe the link below, the seal in the OP pic was used until about 1947

https://www.goodbullhunting.com/platform/amp/2015/4/30/8519979/searching-for-answers-the-texas-a-m-university-seal

CanyonAg77 said:

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Could it be a sweetheart pin of some sort? Like if you were Ordnance, you'd give your girl this to wear!

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I was thinking the same thing.

I think you are right on the age, but I am not sure those were originally connected.

It looks to me like a tie tack that was later connected to the ordnance corps/grenadier pin. I swear I have seen an A&M tie tack with a similar A&M seal on it before.

Quote:

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That's the symbol from the 19th century for grenadiers. A flaming bomb.

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Don't really need to correct you, as you are the expert on things, but that is an actual grenade (hence grenadier). As in a early, Nelson-era grenade, which was a ceramic pot with combustable material inside.

I believe that this tie tack was made by the Kinney Co, providence, R.I.. I have one just like it, except mine has University instead of college. mine does not have the flaming grenade, which may have been added later.

I got mine in the mid-late 60's, so this may be from the "transition period" between A&M College and A&M University.

So if the seal is the tie tac, where does the flaming onion go?

Pure speculation, but on the army mess dress uniform there is a chain worn with two buttons on either end to hold the jacket together. Maybe it's used in a similar fashion?