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Spain. Engineers’ Overseas o Forage Cap of the Popular Army of the Republic. Spanish Civil War.
The five-pointed red star officially became an insignia of the Republican Army on 31 October 1936, through a circular order that completely reorganised the system of military rank insignia. The order was published in the Diario Oficial del Ministerio de la Guerra No. 226 of 2 November 1936. This regulation replaced the former rank stars with bars and introduced the five-pointed red star as a characteristic element of the new system of insignia.
This reform coincided with the creation of the Popular Army of the Republic (EPR), formally begun in October 1936 with the militarisation and progressive integration of the militias into Mixed Brigades.
However, the red star had already been in use before 31 October. From July 1936 onwards, it appeared among Communist-inspired militia units, particularly the MAOC (Workers’ and Peasants’ Antifascist Militias) and subsequently the 5th Regiment, where it had a clear revolutionary and Communist significance. For example, MAOC political commissars wore a five-pointed red star on their shirts.
Republican side cap from the Spanish Civil War.
