WW2 South African General Service button, large 27mm size.

Large gilded brass 27mm button. The Imperial War Museum holds an identical example (catalogue INS 28171, described as “button, South Africa, General Service”). Their listing matches yours feature for feature: quartered Union of South Africa arms, torse with lion gardant holding a bundle of rods, springbok and gemsbok as supporters, and the scroll reading EX UNITATE VIRES (“From Unity, Strength”).

• The King’s Crown above the arms places it pre-1952/53, before the switch to the Queen’s Crown pattern under Elizabeth II.

• The bilingual rim lettering, SOUTH AFRICA and ZUID AFRIKA, is standard for Union-era buttons, reflecting the country’s two official languages at the time (Dutch/Afrikaans and English).