Republic of Cuba Orden "Ernesto Che Guevara"

[Stogieman]

Orden "Ernesto Che Guevara"

Order of Ernesto Che Guevara. Awarded in three (3) Classes. One of the Cuban Revolution's most prominent men, confidant of Castro, ultimate rival perhaps.... but honored via this award. Very high in precedence (8th place in the hierarchy). Probably a screw-back, but unknown. In research. No other details available at the moment.

Example of the medal ribbons for all three classes:

[Stogieman]

An example of a First Class award, in the case of issue, with ribbon bar:

[Stogieman]

Nice photo of Che before his death in Bolivia.

[Stogieman]

Interesting close-up. Second Class perhaps..

[Stogieman]

And the reverse. What surprises me the most about this photo is the crudeness of the pin......

[Ed_Haynes]

Ohhhh. Nice one, Rick!

[Stogieman]

Note the difference in this pin from the one posted here:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=145367

I wonder how many variations are floating around??

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Here's one I found on the net:

Hope it helps!

Dan

[Stogieman]

All 3 classes of the Orden "Ernesto Che Guevara". Gold on the left, washed out by the scanner.

[Stogieman]

Reverse: Note the single pin as opposed to the double prong we've seen on other Orders.

[Guest Rick Research]

This appears to confirm that the ribbon on my Soviet Border Guard general's ribbon bar IS a Che 3rd Class:

but that only makes the carefully copied ribbon ahead of it-- there are three sets of these from the same general's tunics, with the Cuban awards laboriously copied in multiple piece make-dos on the other two sets-- even more of a mystery.

[Stogieman]

It will be interesting if at some point we can get a timeline... when a single pin? When did they switch to a double prong? Why the carryover of the pin system from pre-revolution days? Why did they never "go Sov" with screw-back awards?

So many unanswered questions...

[webr55]

I just found this thread, and I'm wondering whether this unidentified, improvised ribbon on GDR Admiral Wilhelm Ehm's ribbon bar (see here) might be the "Ernesto Che Guevara" order 1st class?

[Chris Boonzaier]

I cannot add to the medal... but I have about half a dozen different versions of the "Che" T-shirt... should I add them :-)

[Guest Rick Research]

I don't think so, from the width of the ribbon. Also, that looks like a gray center stripe, not white.

Anybody have ANY clue whether, following Soviet practice, 1st classes could only be awarded after 2nd classes, after 3rd classes?

[Guest Rick Research]

Just in today, cased 2nd Class:

The bust is a separate piece. It and the center obverse disk appear to be of real but non-tarnishing silver (?) while the star itself is chromed, with extra chroming on the reverse disk.

Like all but one of the pinback Orders that have turned up so far, it is in a generic plastic case with randomly colored insert, the same way ribboned medals were issued:

Whether this is correct, or how they are coming out, remains a question among all the other questions with no answerss yet.

[Stogieman]

Nice piece! However there are three (3) cased pin-backs seen in Europe! A Camillo Cienfuegos, a Che First and a third one... I forget. Look back to "A Cuban Dream" thread... pix in there from Germany show three early orders in leatherette cases slightly bigger than the last cased CF that came out.

[Guest Rick Research]

Compared same size with a Red Star:

[Stogieman]

Hey Chris... have that Che shirt in a 3XLT?? ;>)

[webr55]

I don't think so, from the width of the ribbon. Also, that looks like a gray center stripe, not white.

Well, now IF... let's just suppose IF... there surfaced another bar of his... with the same ribbon... but the correct width....

[webr55]

How 'bout this? (yes I know, the pic is tiny)

[webr55]

Che 1st cl - in correct width now!

[webr55]

This is a later bar of Ehm, with the Karl-Marx-Orden on top - which he got in 1983.

And the red ribbon in the same row as the Ernesto Che Guevara (end of the row) - I bet this is the order of Miguel Larreynaga from Nicaragua, socialist ally at the time. Which would most probably make the one between those two South American as well. Here, the center stripe is clearly light blue, not dark blue as in his earlier bar.

Edited July 8, 2008 by webr55

[webr55]

here's a better picture! Any experts here for Latin American awards....?

[webr55]

Any new ideas on this one? Does anyone know of GDR officers who got Cuban awards?