Shield Hat Badge New York City, Native American and Settler/Sailor with Windmill

This genuine, vintage New York City hat badge was used as identification for officers of the city. The seal shows a sailor in breeches and a Native American of the Lenape tribe holding a longbow. The sailor holds a long rope with a loop at its end, a tool used to measure the depth of water (a plummet, or plumb line). American settlers came here on sailing ships. The wind brought them to New Amsterdam (New York), hence the windmill. (N.Y. Times)
The beavers on the seal represent the fur trade, and the barrels of flour, the city’s “early, short-lived monopoly on milling in the 17th century,” according to the New-York Historical Society. An American eagle with wings out sits on top of the Northern Hemisphere.
The symbols of beavers, barrels, windmill, the figures, and eagle on globe represent the importance of trade in the New World between the immigrants and the native population and Europe.
The badge is in very good condition. Size: 2 1/8 in. wide x 1 7/8 in. high.
(#3322.AT)
7 oz