Are these pledge pins?

[RoLiki]

I was wondering if these are pledge pins.

Thanks in advance!

[Kevin]

Deleted the link. Can you have the photos hosted with a reputable host? I'm not sure what you're linking to and don't want folks to click on something they shouldn't.

[RoLiki]

The link was to my Microsoft OneDrive

How about this: https://imgur.com/a/mB2XrfK

[naraht]

The one on the far right, I'd *guess* is Alpha Chi Omega related between the lyre and the mention of 1897. But I'd be surprised if it was a pledge pin given the complexity. Most but not all GLOs have a simpler pledge pin than brother/sister pin.

The one top center with "Phi Beta Epsilon" 08 doesn't appear to be the group at MIT or the one in the Philippines.

The only use of KV that I've heard of in the Fraternity area is as an abbreviation for Kartellverband which is an umbrella group of Student Corporations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I have *no* idea how the European Student Corporations (which are *somewhat* similar to US Fraternities) work in terms of pins (and would be surprised if anyone else here was familiar)

Even less ideas on the remaining two.

[RoLiki]

Thank you for the reply.

I'm also stumped on the El Toro with he the S...

[RahRah241]

The El toro may be from some sort of shooting competition. The shape of the badge is similar to marksmanship badges the US military uses, and the bull on the badge may be in reference to getting a bullseye.

[DaffyKD]

The El Toro may be an old school pin from El Toro HS in Lake Forest, CA

DaffyKD

[navane]

The pin with the torch and "PH" is possibly a Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) member pin. Here's how I came up with that:

I did some key word searches to suss out other examples of the pin found online (very few are available!). One pin I found showed the back of the pin reading "Fuller Worcester Mass". Assuming that was the manufacturer, I Googled "fuller worcester pin" in hopes of gleaning more information.

Bingo. The results of that search were almost all related to Patrons of Husbandry and Grange. Fuller is a regalia company and one search result showed the company as the official provider of member pins for PH/Grange. PH/Grange is a professional association of farmers.

[navane]

The diamond-shaped pin is a member pin for Psi Iota Xi, a high school/community sorority that was founded in Indiana in 1897. I determined this by searching for other examples of that same crest. (I knew it wasn't an Alpha Chi Omega pin because that is not the AXO crest.)

I searched for "crest lyre pin" and located the above example - same crest, different mounting. In this picture, I could now see that Psi Iota Xi is in the scroll at the bottom. Searching Psi Iota Xi quickly turned up the sorority online, still in existence.

Reference: https://www.psiiotaxi.org/

[naraht]

Originally Posted by navane

The diamond-shaped pin is a member pin for Psi Iota Xi, a high school/community sorority that was founded in Indiana in 1897. I determined this by searching for other examples of that same crest. (I knew it wasn't an Alpha Chi Omega pin because that is not the AXO crest.)

I searched for "crest lyre pin" and located the above example - same crest, different mounting. In this picture, I could now see that Psi Iota Xi is in the scroll at the bottom. Searching Psi Iota Xi quickly turned up the sorority online, still in existence.

Reference: https://www.psiiotaxi.org/

Now that we know what we are looking for, I can see Psi Iota Xi in the original pin bottom...

[Cheerio]

Is it possible the Phi Beta Epsilon letters could be read as Beta Phi Epsilon?

[navane]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Is it possible the Phi Beta Epsilon letters could be read as Beta Phi Epsilon?

Yes. I was working on that angle too with no luck.

Originally Posted by RoLiki

The link was to my Microsoft OneDrive

How about this: https://imgur.com/a/mB2XrfK

Do you have pictures of the backs of the pins? That could help shake loose some clues.

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by navane

The pin with the torch and "PH" is possibly a Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) member pin. Here's how I came up with that:

I did some key word searches to suss out other examples of the pin found online (very few are available!). One pin I found showed the back of the pin reading "Fuller Worcester Mass". Assuming that was the manufacturer, I Googled "fuller worcester pin" in hopes of gleaning more information.

Bingo. The results of that search were almost all related to Patrons of Husbandry and Grange. Fuller is a regalia company and one search result showed the company as the official provider of member pins for PH/Grange. PH/Grange is a professional association of farmers.

Good sleuthing.

I was a Grange member in my younger days, and while I can't say I recall that *exact* pin, I did recognize it as a PH pin.