Khartoum Province Police Badge, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

Khartoum Province Police Badge, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
Among the rarest survivals of Britain’s colonial presence in the Sudan, this silver and blue enamel badge represents the Khartoum Province Police during the twilight years of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium. 
Sudan was jointly administered by Britain and Egypt from 1899 until independence on 1 January 1956 – a unique arrangement known as the Condominium, under which the British Governor-General held effective power while Egyptian co-sovereignty was maintained. Provincial police forces, each with their own distinct insignia, were part of the colonial administrative fabric from as early as 1901.
This badge is what collectors term “theatre-made” – produced not by a British regimental badge contractor in Birmingham or London, but by a local silversmith in Cairo or possibly Khartoum itself. The reverse carries an Arabic assay stamp consistent with the Egyptian hallmarking system that became compulsory from 1916, with the purity most likely 800 parts per thousand silver. The bar-pin fitting is typical of locally produced silver badges of the 1930s through early 1950s.
The elephant was the emblem of Khartoum Province, reflecting the region’s association with the ivory trade that had shaped the city’s fortunes since the 19th century. The badge would have been worn on the pagri (turban) or cap of a provincial police officer, its silver gleaming against khaki in the fierce Sudanese sun. With Sudanese independence in January 1956, the provincial police forces were absorbed into the new Sudan Police Force, and badges such as this passed into history almost overnight.