The logo from the collar of the uniform commercial fleet

In pre-revolutionary Russia there was a great deal as quantitative private steamship companies, engaged in transportation of passengers and cargo by marine and river waterways. The scale could range from giants like the Russian society of shipping and trade (Ropit), a Voluntary fleet, "the Caucasus and mercury" or "a Plane" that included dozens of ships, to small merchants, which had one or two river steamer. A single form of merchant Navy, as practised, for example, in the USSR, in the Russian Empire did not exist. Specialists of ship crews (captains, their assistants and mechanics) dressed in jackets and caps like used in the military fleet, but a long time had no insignia. The growth of large shipping firms (for example, Rapid to 1910, had 76 main vessels and 140 auxiliary boats) each of them has proactively engaged in the development and submission to a higher approval of their own uniforms. This process started in the 1890s and continued until the revolution.

A distinctive feature of the trade of sailors and shipmen around the same time was the image of two crossed anchors, vystupovanie of yellow or white metal and worn on the collars of coats and jackets, as well as on the band caps. On the collars of the coats, the emblem might be sewn with gold thread or be a metal slip. Summer jackets and tunics made of light fabric, usually used slip fittings that can be easily removed for washing. Sometimes the image anchors were apostles metal five-pointed asterisks: three captains, two senior assistants and one for mechanics. Other specialists of the stars was not supposed to. In imitation of the major shipping companies of a similar emblem could be worn and crews of vessels belonging to small owners. In addition, a similar valve used the pupils of the river schools and nautical schools, which in old Russia was more than a dozen. Crossed anchors can be found in old catalogs shaped fittings, however up to now such items have come in trace amounts.

This emblem is stamped from thick brass and is an almost perfectly preserved example of the trade insignia of the sailors of the late XIX – early XX centuries, Judging by the size (36*39 mm) and the type of attachment, it was intended for wear on the collar of uniforms. Of the four mounting lugs is preserved three, which is very rare (usually they are lost due to corrosion of the solder). Minted on the obverse has virtually no traces of wear. The guarantee of authenticity.