Having been engaged in faleristics for more than twenty-five years, I clearly remember the appearance in my collection of the first badge of the military press. It turned out to be the anniversary badge of the newspaper of the North Caucasus Military District "Red Banner", presented by a Rostov correspondent to his father, who at that time was the editor-in-chief of one of the central newspapers. I was somewhat surprised by the text on the icon itself: "Red Cavalryman". It turned out that it was under this name that this district newspaper, formed in 1919 as an organ of the political department of the First Cavalry Army, was published from December 1919 to May 1921 and from November 1934 to July 1942.

Among the more than three thousand icons known to date, one way or another related to journalism, there are a little more than one and a half hundred dedicated to the military press. The history of their appearance is directly related to military periodicals, which dates back to 1800 - the year of the publication of "Sea Notes" at the State Admiralty Board. During the XIX century, one after another, the first issues of magazines were published, the topics of which covered literally all aspects of military affairs: "Artillery Magazine "(1808), " Military Medical Journal "(1822), " Marine Collection "(1848), "Military Collection" (1858), "Engineering Magazine "(1857), "Weapons Collection" (1861), " Quartermaster Magazine "(1899). From 1813 to 1917, the first military newspaper "Russian Invalid" was published, which became the official newspaper of the Ministry of War in 1862.

It would be reasonable to expect the appearance of any phaleronyms (badges, tokens) during the existence of these publications. However, their long life has left almost no trace in faleristics. Only one magazine, Morskoy Sbornik, has retained its original name, and only in 1973 it was "noted" by the release of a small print run of a commemorative sign in honor of its 125th anniversary. We must pay tribute to the Tallinn craftsmen who very successfully made this miniature made of blackened brass with an overhead part in the form of the flag of the USSR Navy, made using hot enamel technology.

In addition, collectors know at least two badges - the editorial and anniversary (50 years) of the magazine "Aviation and Cosmonautics" and the badge with the logo of the magazine "Army Collection", issued for the 5th anniversary (1999) of the publication of the first issue. However, perhaps the most original and unexpected badge ever issued by the military press is a commemorative miniature made for the presentation of the February 1992 issue of the Bulletin of Air Defense, which is entirely dedicated (for the first time in the history of not only the military, but also the entire former Soviet press) to the women's holiday of March 8.

Speaking generally about the very first badge associated with military journalism, obviously, we will have to conditionally assume that this is the anniversary badge of the central body of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - the Krasnaya Zvezda daily newspaper (1924), released in 1964 to mark the 40th anniversary of the publication. However, there is oral evidence of the alleged existence of the badge of the newspaper of the Soviet Army Air Force "Stalin's Falcon", published from 1941 to 1960 (since 1956 under the name"Soviet Aviation"). However, at least at the moment, falerists interested in journalistic topics have not reliably established the facts of earlier (than 1964) issues of military periodical press badges.

The newspaper "Krasnaya Zvezda", as befits a central body, is one of the leaders in the number of its issued service and commemorative badges. In total, they are already known for more than fifteen species. Among them - anniversary ones with numbers "50", "60", "70"; memorial sign dedicated to the publication of the twenty-thousandth issue of the newspaper. Service badges are represented by miniatures of "Active Distributor of Military printing" and "Best Distributor of Military printing". Special issues marked the newspaper's awards with Orders of the USSR.

It should be said that the central military journalism is very poorly represented in faleristics, although the signs sometimes claim to be called even small works of jewelry art. In addition to the already mentioned faleronym of the magazine "Marine Collection", they undoubtedly include the breastplate of the central magazine of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation" Landmark " (1994). Made in the best traditions of the regimental breastplates of the Russian imperial army, it seems to be imbued with the spirit of the Russian army. The sign was made at the Moscow company "Orel & Co" for the 5th anniversary of the magazine's publication. For various reasons and at different times, badges were created for the historical predecessor of Orientir-the magazine "Communist of the Armed Forces", as well as the magazines "Military Thought "( from 1918 to 1936 - "Military Science", "Military Science and Revolution", etc.); "Warrior of Russia" (from 1919 to 1946 G. - "Red Army man", "Red Army man and Red Navy man" ; from 1946 to 1993 - "Soviet warrior" ; from 1993 to 1995 - "I have the Honor"; from 1995 to 1998 - "Warrior"); " Military Historical Journal "(1939).

The district army seal of the Soviet period is presented in faleristics quite fully. Almost all newspapers of the military districts issued their own commemorative, anniversary or service badges. In addition to the previously mentioned "Red Banner"

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(North Caucasus Military District) this was done by the newspapers Krasny Voin (Moscow Military District), On a Combat Post (Moscow Air Force and Air Defense District), On Guard of the Motherland (Leningrad Military District) and others.

District newspaper of the Trans-Baikal Military District "On a combat post" (in 1934 - "Alarm of Transbaikalia") in terms of the amount of faleristic material, it far surpassed all other similar publications and in this "indicator" came close to the central newspaper of the Ministry of Defense. Over the years of the Trans-Baikal newspaper's existence, more than ten different types of icons dedicated to various events in its life have appeared.

Navy newspapers have their own badges: "On Guard of the Arctic" (1937, Northern Fleet); "Guardian of the Baltic" (1919, twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet); "Combat watch" (from 1936 to 1937 - "On combat watch", Pacific Fleet); "Flag of the Motherland" (1920, Red Banner Black Sea Fleet). They have anniversary faleronyms of the newspaper "Soviet Sailor" (naval base, Kronstadt) and the newspaper of the Red Banner Caspian Flotilla "Kaspiets" (Baku; in 1919-1921 it was published in the form of a magazine; in 1921-1922 - "Voenmor"; in 1934-1947 - "Krasny Kaspiets")..

Interesting are the badges of the newspapers Red Army (Group of Soviet Troops in Germany) and Soviet Soldier, which were published for military personnel of the Southern Group of Forces (Czechoslovakia). The latter are made in the traditional manner of Czechoslovak execution using epoxy resins. Less vivid miniatures were created for the 50th anniversary of the newspaper " Victory Banner "( from 1938 to 1944 - "For the Motherland"; in 1944-1945 - "Frontovaya Pravda"). The Northern Group of Forces stationed on the territory of the Polish People's Republic.

The large-circulation newspaper of military builders "Na Stroike" has its own commemorative badges, as well as the publication of railway troops - the daily newspaper "Military Railwayman" (Yekaterinburg).

It would be unfair to confine ourselves to reviewing the faleristic material of the military print media, which are only under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense. The border Troops of the Federal Border Service and the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have solved the same tasks with the latter. Therefore, it makes sense to briefly focus on the phaleronyms of the press and these departments.

In the history of military faleristics, the press of the border troops entered a number of miniatures of its central organ - the magazine "Pogranichnik" (from 1906 to 1914; resumed in 1939) and the much younger newspaper "Border of Russia" (1993). With the organizational and financial support of "Pogranichnik", ice hockey tournaments were held for several years in a row with the help of the press of the Border Troops. ice hockey, military all-around competitions. As a result, in addition to editorial badges, souvenir badges dedicated to these sporting events were also issued.

From district newspapers, the badges were or are "Soviet Border Guard" (Western Border District); "On the Soviet frontiers "(North-Western Border District); "Border Guard of Transbaikalia "(Zabaikalsky border District); "Battle banner" (Far Eastern Border District).

The main periodicals that reflect the life of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia today are the magazine " On a combat post "(1958) and two of its subsidiaries, published as appendices to it: the collection of educational and methodological materials "Military Bulletin "(1989) and the daily newspaper" Situation " (1990). The relationship of these publications is demonstrated in an original way by a series of their icons. The badges are made in the same style with the obligatory presence of two elements of the logo of the magazine "On a combat post" - a shield and a red star, one of the rays of which is depicted in the form of a feather.

In conclusion, I would like to focus on the latest faleristic novelties associated with the beginning of the activities of a number of independent military publications.

The original badge with the image of the emblem was prepared in 1998 for the presentation of one of its issues by the magazine of special purpose units "Bratishka" (1997). The emblem uses special forces symbols - a speckled (the color of dried blood) beret and a crosshair of an optical sight, as well as a pen - a symbol of journalism.

The spetsnaz beret is also included in the logo of another independent magazine for strong and tough men, Soldier of Fortune (1994), the Russian equivalent of the publication published under the same name in the United States. The editorial badge is made of nickel silver in two versions.

Two other publications are already well-known and popular: the military-historical magazine "Serzhant" (1996) and the folk magazine "for those who always want to make a person strong and gain strength themselves ""Russian style: martial Arts" (1991). Both of these publications "marked" in faleristics with the release of their own signs. Moreover, "Sergeant" for the first time in the practice of military journalism established a special breast medal "For Merit", which the editorial board awards to those who have particularly distinguished themselves in the journal's activities.

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