View source for Honorable Service Lapel Button

{{Infobox award
| name             = Honorable Service Lapel Button
| image            = Ruptured duck pin.gif
| image_size       = 270
| caption          = 1939–1946
| type             = [[Lapel pin|Lapel button]]
| awarded_for      = honorable [[Federal government of the United States|Federal]] military service between June 9, 1925 and December 31, 1946.
| country          = [[United States]]
| presenter        = [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]]<br>[[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]
| status           = [[Obsolescence|Obsolete]]
| established      = General Orders 13, [[United States Department of War|War Department]], June 9, 1925
| image2           = ArmyLapelButton.PNG
| image2_size      = 270
| caption2         = 1925–1939
}}
The '''Honorable Service Lapel Button''', colloquially called "'''Ruptured Duck'''" by the members of the military, was a [[Lapel pin|lapel button]] awarded for honorable [[Federal government of the United States|Federal]] military service between 1925 and 1946.<ref name="GPO">{{cite web|title=32 C.F.R. § 578.54.|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2008-title32-vol3/pdf/CFR-2008-title32-vol3-sec578-63.pdf |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|GPO]] |accessdate=January 1, 2022}}</ref> The award, designed by [[Anthony de Francisci]], was issued for wear on the left lapel of civilian clothing upon [[Military discharge|discharge]].

The [[United States Department of War|U.S. departments of War]] and the [[United States Department of the Navy|Navy]] issued the lapel button to eligible servicemen and women upon discharge. It was made of gilt brass, except during metal shortages during which it was made of gilt plastic. Service members who received the plastic version were later allowed to trade it in for the brass version.

==Appearance==
The button is approximately 7/16 inch in height and 5/8 inch in width. A cloth [[Lozenge (shape)|lozenge]] depicting the gold colored button design was also issued. The lozenge was approximately 1.5 inches in height and 3 inches in width with the ring design being approximately 1 inch in diameter. Honorably discharged veterans wore the lapel pin on the left lapel of civilian clothing and the lozenge was sewn onto the right breast of the dress uniform that they wore when being discharged.<ref name="GPO" />

Even though it depicts an eagle,<ref name="GPO" /> the design of the eagle seems to depict its breast bursting through the button as though it has ruptured, and the eagle was believed by some to have been so poorly designed as to resemble a duck rather than an eagle. The term "ruptured duck" was coined to refer to it on that basis.<ref name="STIWOT">{{cite web|title=Honorable Service Lapel Button / Honorable Discharge Emblem|url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/awards/2199/Honorable-Service-Lapel-Button---Honorable-Discharge-Emblem.htm|publisher=[[STIWOT]] |accessdate=January 1, 2022}}</ref>

==Honorable Discharge Emblem==
[[File:Ruptured Duck patch.JPG|thumb|left|In November 1944, the Honorable Discharge Emblem was established for wear over the right uniform pocket of all returning World War II personnel.]]
The Honorable Discharge Emblem, designed to be worn on the military uniform, served as proof the wearer was an honorably discharged veteran returning from service during World War II. It was unofficially utilized as an identifier to railroad, bus, and other transportation companies who offered free or subsidized transportation to returning veterans.<ref name="STIWOT" />

During [[World War II]], enlisted members of the armed forces were forbidden to possess civilian clothing unless they were under specific orders to do so. This not only made desertion more difficult, but also ensured that any captured service member would be treated as a prisoner of war under the rules of war. (Soldiers captured in combat zones in possession of civilian clothing were liable to be treated as spies and [[summary execution|summarily executed]].) In pre-war conditions, discharged veterans typically donned civilian clothing when returning home, but this was logistically difficult during wartime and immediate post-war America. Approximately 16 million men and women served in the uniformed services during the crisis, most of whom were scheduled to be discharged within a short period of time during the general demobilization at the end of the war. Clothing was already in short supply due to cloth [[rationing]], and the immediate clothing needs of millions of returning veterans threatened to crash an already overtaxed system. The Honorable Discharge Emblem, embroidered onto a cloth [[Lozenge (shape)|lozenge]] and sewn over the right pocket of the military uniform, allowed the veteran to continue to wear the uniform for up to 90 days subsequent to discharge.<ref name="STIWOT" />

==Legacy==
World War II veterans wore the Honorable Service Lapel Button on the left lapel of civilian clothing many years after the war. It also appeared on a U.S. [[postage stamp]] honoring World War II veterans and was widely used as a popular symbol of their service. Usage of the term "ruptured duck" later expanded to refer to servicemen wearing the emblem, as in "that ruptured duck is flying [[Space-A travel|space-available]]."  The term later came into use to describe someone or something moving quickly, presumably because returning servicemen were usually in a great hurry to return to their homes in the United States.<ref name="STIWOT" />

==See also== <!-- EDITORS NOTE: This section should primarily contain lists linked to the main article which are directly related to the award. Thank you. -->
* [[Doolittle Raid#Participating aircraft|List of participating aircraft in Doolittle Raid]]&nbsp;— ''"The Ruptured Duck"''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category multi|Honorable Service Lapel Button (United States)|Honorable Discharge Emblem (United States)}}
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* [https://baseballhall.org/discover/ruptured-duck-patch Honorable Discharge Emblem] at the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]]
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[[Category:1925 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1946 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1925]]
[[Category:Awards disestablished in 1946]]
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of the United States]]
[[Category:Service lapel buttons]]