Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic Medal 1886

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Cased Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Medal 1886. The G.A.R. was organized in 1866 as Union veterans of the Civil War. In 1881, the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic was established to help the aging veterans and to aid their widows and orphans. The group went national in 1886 and remains the oldest women’s hereditary organization in the United States. The obverse features a central Goddess of Liberty, with a soldier and a sailor shaking hands, above two kneeling children, who are all flanked by a flag and eagle and an ax and a bundle of rods for union. This is all surrounded by: “Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic 1886”, on a five-pointed star with laurel leaf wreath. The star holds an American flags and has a top bar which reads “F.C.L.” for Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty. The medal is 2 ½” long and is in excellent condition. I believe these are still in production and use. This one is clearly aged.