Megan

Nice - interesting that he appears to be wearing both a Commander and an Officer of the Order of the Great Star...

It is indeed... thank you very much.

Thanks, Tony. Wonder why they are dragging their feet so much... strange to have people being awarded a medal that does not exist yet!

Wonderful - can you share any bigger images and information about these little-known awards, please?

I may have an image in my files at home (I'm at work right now) - I'll have a look at the weekend.

There's no stopping them, is there? They just plain like having lots of medals!

Enjoy Albania... You'll be wanting a copy of Eric Shena's The Decorations of Socialist Albania - available as a free PDF here: http://www.gmic.co.uk/uploads/Albania2.pdf

Thanks, Antonio...

Likewise, but it's a useful start. Ilja, I have some dates and terms of award on my site although the names are slightly different. I'll probably change them to the English version as given on the site Antonio found, as they ought to know the correct translations!

OK... please feel free to help yourself to images from my site (or ask for the higher-quality originals), of course.

Fascinating work Antonio ... but it is quite hard to read due to the text being a bit weird. Does anyone else find this? (Using latest version of Adobe Acrobat to read it). How do you want the work to be referenced, and may the link be shared?

It was instituted 9 July 1959 and awarded in 3 classes (gold, silver and bronze) to armed forces personnel for courage on the battlefield or other acts of courage or outstanding service.

Oooh... I just wish my Arabic was better! (I can only speak a few words, but read it? Forget it!) So for the time being I'll have to rely on those who can to pass on information. Thanks Owain for what you've done so far.

In Cheshire, quite a few of our bobbies wear little enamelled pins showing the ribbons to which they are entitled. As the most common set (Golden Jubilee, Diamond Jubilee, Police LS & GC) are all symmetrical, they are quite often worn upside down, i.e. with the ribbons in reverse order! When a fire protection officer came to visit our house, handing out smoke detectors, he had such a pin (upside down, of course). So I pulled up the relevant pages on my website and showed him how they ought to be worn

Seems rather ridiculous... in essence it means that a collector may not purchase a Medal of Honor for his collection but if he gets hold of one somehow he can prance around wearing it!

Oooh... that's fascinating, Arnaud, and welcome to the Forum. May I ask, would you be willing to permit me to use that image on my website, please? I've not got a picture of that yet.

Lovely - where did you find those?

Fascinating. As Taras says, very Portuguese in appearance!

Lovely, thank you Hugh - but your information refers to the post-1910 Republic of Portugal... guess where I'll be going after the Kingdom is done So I shall tuck this away for later...

I have turned my attention to the Kingdom of Portugal pre-1910... but I am in need of help! I have a vast array of images courtesy of our friends at Morton & Eden (check out their Auction #77 if you like Portugese stuff!) and I'm trying to get them sorted into some semblance of order for my website. Does anyone know of an order of precedence for them? So far I know about: - Order of Christ - 2 divisions Civil and Military, quite different badges. Order of Aviz - Type 1 and Type 2 (1894-1910) Order of the Tower and Sword - Type 1 (1808-1834), Type 2 (1834 to 'mid-19th C.') and Type 3 (from this 'mid-19th C. to 1910) Order of St James of the Sword - Type 1 and Type 2, no dates known. Order of Vila Viçosa Civil Order of Agricultural and Industrial Merit - with Agricultural and Industrial divisions. Peninsular War Cross, 1808-14 - Military and Civil, each with varying numbers of years of service. Montevideo Star, 1822-1823 Montevideo Cross, 1822-1823 - in gold and silver. Bravery Medal of the Trasmontana Division, 1823 - Type 1 and Type 2 Medal for Loyalty to King & Country - 3 Types, at least the Type 3 one has gold and silver medals. As Chagas De Lamego Medal, 1825 Campaign of Liberty Medal, 1826-1834 - Type 1 and Type 2, each as Civil and Military versions. Maria II Loyalty Medal, 1833 Spanish Auxiliaries Medal, 1835-7 - 3 types. Maria II Cross Maria II Merit Medal of Philanthropy and Generosity - silver. Yellow Fever Medal, 1858 - silver. Angolan Expedition, 1860 - in silver and bronze (? gold as well) Military Medal for Valour, 1863 - Naval and Army Types, gold and silver (maybe a bronze as well?) Exemplary Conduct Medal, 1863 - Naval and Army Types, each in gold, silver and bronze. Good Service Medal, 1863 - Naval and Army Types, with silver and bronze known for each, maybe also in gold. Medal for Overseas Service, 1891 - in silver and bronze (also gold?) Overseas Distinguished Service Medal, 1891 - in silver and bronze (maybe also gold?) Assiduous Overseas Services, 1891 - in gold, silver and bronze. Coronation of King Carlos Medal, 1889 Postal & Telegraphic Merit Medal, 1898 - in gold, silver and bronze. State Railway Merit Medal, 1902 - in gold, silver and bronze. Queen Amelia Medal, 1894-96 - for service in Angola, India (silver and bronze), Mozambique (bronze) and Nyassa. Overseas Campaign Medal, 1896-1910 - silver and bronze. Queen Amelia Naval Review Medal, 1907 - silver and bronze. Royal Institute for Lifesaving (RISM), 1903, Subscriber's medal in silver and bronze Royal Institute for Lifesaving (RISM), 1903, Lifesaver's medal in bronze (may be others). Can anyone help in terms of grades, dates, terms of award of the above, or any other medals I need to include?

Excellent, excellent... John Duncan McMeekin - who sent me the above photo and text to be posted here (for some reason he doesn't care to post for himself so gets the local geek to do it for him!) - says he's working on a full listing of Tongan medals. I'm sure this will all be very helpful

More from John Duncan McMeekin... This is His Majesty, King Tupou VI (no Christian name), who is wearing the following: THE COLLAR: Knight Grand Cross, The Most Illustrious Order of Queen Salote Tupou III The Collar (note, the King has altered the insignia of replacing the Knight Grand Cross insignia (using a red riband) with that of the Grand Cross insignia (using a blue riband).. 3 BREAST STARS 1. The (new) Knight Grand Cross Star (with the blue riband) of the Most Illust. Order of Queen Salote Tupou III. 2. Grand Cross, The Most Devoted Royal Household Order of Tonga - Note: this is a new G.C. as the central medallion is all gold with the embossed National Coat of Arms of Tonga (made in Singapore). 3. Supreme Class, The Illustrious Order of Te Arikinui Queen Te Atairangikaahu of the Maori King, Arikinui Tuheitia Paki (Inst. 21st August, 2014). NECK BADGE: Grand Officer's neck badger, Royal Household Order on a 37mm ribbon.

Fascinating... yet another nation to add to my website

Nice :)

Emmanuel and Peter, thank you both for additional information!