Marine Corp NCO Sabers

[Ayesha]

I have a friend who is a retired U.S.M.C. Sergeant. Since I have talked about the board and Unca Cecil for the past year, he has asked that I bring a question to the board. He has searched high and low for the answer to this, but neither he nor his service buddies have found it.

The question is "Why do U.S.M.C. NCO sabers have a Star of David on them " ?

[samclem]

Just to do a quick “google”,

· During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln commissioned a Jewish man named Zendt to design the USMC Sword. Because Zendt was Jewish, he included a Star of David (Magen David) on the Sword. Today, the Star of David still appears on the Marine Corps NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) Sword, just below the hilt.

from jewish marines

don’t vouch for the accuracy as it was the first right-sounding thing I saw

[DougC]

• • • I can’t reach any ex-Marine friends at the moment to ask. An ex-Army friend had a saber that had a star engraved on the blade on one side, about an inch above the hilt (I don’t recall if it was 5 or 6 pointed). He said it was a testament to the saber’s quality, as it would have been placed in a special press and slowly bent sideways all the way over until the tip touched the star, and then slowly released, returning to its original straight shape. Cheaper ones won’t return to shape. (Can’t says I knowd why youd care about how much you can bend up a presentation piece, but that’s what they told him) - MC

[Johnny_L.A]

I have my father’s Naval sabre. It has the SoD on it, and he told me the same story MC relates. I’d have to see the “test” in the story before I’d believe it though.

[samclem]

Nuts. Now I get a different story from Wilkinson

What does the unusual Star of David /interlocking triangle blade marking often seen on old swords signify?
This is the interlocking triangles, symbolic of strength. It was a device that was introduced as mark of the quality of the blade, and is normally positioned on the flat of the blade, near to the hilt. As it is often confused with the Star of David, it is used less and less these days, particularly on foreign pattern swords.

The FAQs at this site also mention that, if bent, their swords return to original shape. But they dont quite go so far as to say ‘how’ bent.