Bow Tie: Prussian Red Eagle Order 3rd Class

One of the most frequently abused fake embellishments on fraudulent ribbon bars is supposed to be what this incredibly ORIGINAL is--

a Prussian Red Eagle Order 3rd Class "With Bow." This odd device, also found on the full sized Order, is a strange way to show that the holder of a 3rd Class had been promoted up from a 4th Class. (In the same way, a holder of the 2nd Class commander grade wore oakleaves on that neck-worn Order to show further advancement from THIS class). It was Prussian practice to REPLACE lower grades of peacetime Orders when a higher grade was subsequently given, which is why this strange attachment was created.

Red Eagles 3rd Class With Bow normally came to full Colonels, following a "normal" awards sequence of


Red Eagle Order 4th Class (Major), Crown Order 3rd Class (Lieutenant Colonel), Red Eagle 3rd Class with Bow (Colonel), Crown Order 2nd Class (junior Major General), Red Eagle 2nd with Oakleaves (senior Major Generals) and so on-- with 3rd replacing 4ths and 2nds replacing 3rd.

Oddly enough there were no such embellsihments on the Crown Order, which simply "disappears."

This allows us to KNOW that if we see a bar with a Red Eagle 3rd With Bow and it does NOT have a Crown Order 3rd-- then that man was a freshly promoted Major General whose Crown Order had "moved on and up" to a Commander grade.

Note the well made ring and perfect bow here on this extremely rare ORIGINAL device. The hand snipped brass and snipped frauds cannot compare with a real one.

Courtesy of Christian L.