Riga Order of the Red Banner Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers, Member Badge of the SSO Student Construction Unit in Honor of the 25th Anniversary of the Institute, Latvian SSR, 1985.
In brass with nickel plating and enamels; measures 16.8 mm in height (incl. eyelet) x 34.1 mm in width. Shows the silhouette of a civil airliner and a triangle representing the brick trowel, the emblem of Soviet student construction units. The inscription on top is the Russian acronym of the school РКИИГА ("RKIIGA") and at the bottom ССО ("SSO") for "Student Construction Unit".
The badge is in excellent condition. The enamel and nickel finish are perfect; the pin attachment is intact and fully functional.
Please note, p
In brass with nickel plating and enamels; measures 16.8 mm in height (incl. eyelet) x 34.1 mm in width. Shows the silhouette of a civil airliner and a triangle representing the brick trowel, the emblem of Soviet student construction units. The inscription on top is the Russian acronym of the school РКИИГА ("RKIIGA") and at the bottom ССО ("SSO") for "Student Construction Unit".
The badge is in excellent condition. The enamel and nickel finish are perfect; the pin attachment is intact and fully functional.
Please note, penny in our photo is for size reference.
Soviet college student construction units (SSO) were organized during the summer for assistance in crucial areas of economic development. In the 70s-80s they were usually deployed in the Far East and North of the Soviet Union. Some of these labor assignments were quite popular and even competitive, as they often offered unusually high earnings to students otherwise chronically starved for cash. The 1985 SSO unit of the RKIIGA institute was probably deemed particularly important because of the 25th anniversary of the school - hence the unusually nice quality badge issued to its members.
The Riga school of civil aviation engineers had its beginnings in 1919 during the Russian Civil War, initially as airplane mechanics training program in Kiev, Ukraine. After relocating several times, it eventually found its permanent home in Riga in 1945, soon after the recapture of Latvia by the Soviet troops. A year earlier, in 1944, the school was awarded with an Order of the Red Banner for its contribution to the Soviet war effort. After the war, the school continued to operate for a while as a military aviation engineering school, but in 1960, it was transformed into a civil aviation institute (higher education establishment), and in 1967 became known as RKIIGA. Interestingly, the school retained its Order of the Red Banner award from the time it was a military academy, but the date of its founding was considered 1960. It was the oldest and perhaps most prestigious of the three Soviet civil aviation engineering institutes at the time when the USSR collapsed in 1991.
$70.00 Add to cart