At the end of October and November, we also remember the events of 1918. With the proclamation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (SHS) on 29 October 1918, its armed forces, officially called the National Army of SHS, came into existence. Soon after, the new state also had to deal with the problem of uniforming its soldiers. The Uniform Regulation, which, with later additions and corrections, determined the appearance of the Slovenian and Croatian troops until their integration into the unified army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, was published in Zagreb only on 24 November 1918. Thus, in the first weeks of November (and for some as late as 1919), the members of the new National Army of SHS were still wearing their old uniforms with the Austro-Hungarian rank insignia on their collars. The only external insignia of affiliation was mostly a ribbon in the national colours, often rolled into a cockade, which on the cap replaced the previous Austro-Hungarian rosettes with the initials of Emperor Charles I or Franz Joseph I. The new insignia were, at least initially, probably mostly home-made. However, the opportunity was soon seized by some merchants, who began to offer various badges and insignia. Among these were rosettes with the Slovenian tricolour in place of the Emperor’s monogram. The Museum acquired one of these rosettes, which bears witness to the turbulent period of 1918, from the estate of Mr. Miloš Mikolič. It is an interesting paradox that a number of indications suggest that our rosette could have been made in Vienna.
