Romania Romanian fourrageres

[Carol I]

I have found some more images of Romanian fourrageres and since I do not want to 'hijack' the other threads where they were mentioned (Russian Soldiers Awards to Romanian Soldiers and Lanyard) I decided to start a new thread on this topic. I will copy/paste here the relevant posts regarding these fourrageres.

[Carol I]

On some photos Lt. Col. Chiritescu with blue "furajera".

Anoter officers without

[Carol I]

Hummm

It's a blue fouragere... Just to denote that the unit he commanded or where he served had cited several times for their bravery. Just like the french did.

But from what medal are the colours????

[Carol I]

Igor, can you post a better image of the fouragere? Does it have some red stripes?

[Carol I]

I believe the fourragere was attached to the Order of Michael the Brave. Soldiers of the unit awarded with the order were entitled to wear it as long as they remained with the unit. The blue reflected the color of the order badge's enamel.

[Carol I]

No Lukasz, the fourragere for the Order of Michael the Brave was dark red with gold stripes, thus reflecting the colour of the ribbon, not the badge. The only fourragere that reflected more the colours of the badge than those of the ribbon was that for the Order of the Star of Romania: blue with red stripes, while the ribbon was red with silver stripes.

The book by Safta et al on Romanian war decorations mentions only 4 fourrageres, for the following decorations:

- The Order of Michael the Brave: dark red with gold stripes

- Military Virtue Medal: red with blue tripes

- The Order for Aeronautical Virtue: light blue with silver stripes

- The Order of the Star of Romania: blue with red stripes

[Carol I]

Hello Your Majesty,

My fault! Thanks for correcting me. And two questions:

1) do you know if there was a fourrgere to the orders of the Crown of Romania and of the Naval Merit too?

2) most of major Romanian orders (with the exception of the Crown of Romania for obvious reasons) have been restored. Do you know if the fourageres for them have been provided as well?

It seems to be a "fourragere day" at GMIC look here.

Best regards,

Lukasz

[Carol I]

The Naval Merit was only a medal. Anyhow, only the fourrageres of the four awards above are described in the book.

I do not think so. For example the Guard Regiment has been decorated with the Order of the Star of Romania, but they do not wear any fourrageres.

[Carol I]

Igor, can you please give some details about the fourragere in your collection? What are its colours, dark blue and ...?

The image below is from an old auction from La Galerie Numismatique where a certificate for the fourragere of the Star of Romania is paired with a red fourragere with blue stripes. This appears to be in contradiction with the book by Safta et al where the same fourragere is described as blue with red stripes.

[Carol I]

Another image from another auction of La Galerie Numismatique where a certificate for the fourragere of the Star of Romania is paired with a blue fourragere with red stripes.

[Carol I]

Regarding Royal Romanian laynards, the blue fourragere with red stripes is for the Order of the Star and the red fourragere with blue stripes (Actually Rasberry red or purple red in color) is for the Order of Michael the Brave. The Auction is incorrect in matching up Brevets certificates to the laynards.

[Carol I]

What is your source for identifying the red fourragere with blue stripes as that for the Order of Michael the Brave? The book by Safta and collaborators on Romanian war decorations states that the red fourragere with blue stripes was that of the Military Virtue Medal, while that of the Order of Michael the Brave was dark red with gold stripes.

Anyhow, it is clear that the pairing in one of the sets above is wrong.

[Carol I]

Another auction, another image: blue(?) fourragere with a certificate for the Star of Romania fourragere.

[Carol I]

Another auction, another image: blue fourragere with a certificate for the Michael the Brave fourragere.

[Carol I]

Only now have I seen Igor's post below. Interesting certificate for a double award of fourrageres (Michael the Brave and Military Virtue) to Ştefan Chiriţescu.

[Carol I]

According to the Safta et al book, when an officer was awarded two or more fourrageres, all of them were supposed to be worn, but with one aiguillette only hanging from the cord of the highest order. I have taken another look at Igor's photos and in some of them Chiriţescu appears to be wearing two cords, one light and one dark, and the aiguillette hangs from the dark cord. So, if the information in the Safta et al book is correct, the Michael the Brave fourragere was blue (this is the same book that said that the Michael the Brave fourragere was red with gold stripes ) and Lukasz appears to have been right all along.

[Igor Ostapenko]

I'm very sorry, but seller not send me "my" furagere ...

[Carol I]

I'm very sorry, but seller not send me "my" furagere ...

I am sorry as well, since it could have shed some light onto the colours of the Romanian fourrageres.

[Carol I]

On some photos Lt. Col. Chiritescu with blue "furajera".

Anoter officers without

I think I may have an explanation as to why Lt. col. Chiriţescu is wearing fourrageres, but not the other officers in the picture. During WWI Chiriţescu had been a lieutenant in the 30th Infantry Regiment Muscel. Both he and his unit were awarded the Order of Michael the Brave in 1917. Then, as the certificate in post #15 shows (and the photo with the writing on his hat), in the 1930s Chiriţescu was an officer in the 23rd Infantry Regiment Ialomiţa. I would guess that this latter unit has not received any awards during the war and hence that its other officers were not entitled to wear fourrageres.

If this is true, then the photo also shows that it was customary for officers to wear fourrageres even after they had left the units that received the awards. This makes some sense as the fourragere was supposed to be a sign of the officer's contribution to the feats of the decorated units.

[Carol I]

Another image of a Michael the Brave fouragerre. Apparently the main colour of this fourragere was blue.