Megan

Officer:

Grand Officer Star:

Grand Cross Star:

Ordre de la Couronne de Ch?ne Instituted: 29 December 1841 by King William II of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Awarded: For civil and military services and for artistic achievement, in 5 grades. Grand Cross Badge:

Nice. Mostly from the Lesotho government website, aren't they? I found them when researching that sectionbut they are not of good enough quality to seek permission to use them on my site, but at least I can draw the ribbons now...

Obverse:

Instituted 1972 in at least 3 grades, this is the 3rd Class or Companion badge.

The Queen's Ambulance Service Medal is to be established to reward acts beyond the call of duty by members of the ambulance services. It will also be awarded for outstanding contributions to the national or local development of the ambulance service. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6243840.stm Further details as I manage to unearth them...

Excellent.... that's about a month, isn't it? I'll be on holiday by then so you will probably hear the yells of glee clean across the 'pond' Thank you, Ed. Also like to add that the generous souls at CollectRussia.com & eMedals.ca have both given me full run at their online catalogue images... naturally acknowledgements will be appearing on appropriate places on my site, but I'm so delighted I shall shout about it here too!!!!

Interesting. I feel some changes to the page coming on...

Obverse:

Here's a picture of the actual beastie:

Companion:

Darjah Yang Amat Dihormati Setia Diraja Instituted: 3 September 1965. Awarded: For service and loyalty to the Crown, often to members of the armed forces, police and civil service. Grades: 4 (Knight, Companion, Officer and Member) plus a Medal. Knight's Star:

Reverse:

Pingat Abu Bakar Sultan Instituted: 1883. Obverse:

Silver Medal Reverse:

Pingat Ibrahim Sultan Instituted: 1928. Grades: 3 (Gold, Silver and Bronze). Silver Medal Obverse

Reverse:

Instituted: 1989. Awarded: For operational service outside South Africa including Border War external operations and the 1987-88 Angola Campaign. Obverse:

Actually, the majority of UK orders are presented by a senior member of the Royal family at an event called an Investiture. A whole series of these are held after the publication of each Honours List, and military decorations awarded in the interim are folded into the programme so that their recipients too are honoured in this way. The whole procedure lasts about an hour and a half- so it is a fairly streamlined although formal event. All the awardees are lined up in the order of precedence of what they are going to receive. If you are going to get an award that is worn on the chest, they fit a special hook to your clothing to make it easy to attach - no fiddling about trying to pin it on! The only citations read out are those for the Victoria Cross or the George Cross. Otherwise only the name and the award are announced. A good trick is to take the London Gazette with the relevant Honours List along, so you can follow the action. People who are receiving a knighthood kneel on a footstool and are actually 'dubbed' with a sword - light tap on each shoulder, right then left - by the Royal Personage. You then get bedecked with the insignia to go with your knighthood. A lady receiving the equivalent - title of Dame - is not dubbed and doesn't have to kneel down. If you are receiving a decoration worn around the neck - such as the CBE that started this thread - it is literally hung around your neck if you are male. If you are female, you receive the decoration mounted on a bow and hooked onto your coat. Oddly enough, if you are a female member of the armed forces, you are presented with the 'female' form of the award at your Investiture, but are expected to wear it 'male-style' (i.e. a neck badge around the neck not on a bow) when in uniform. If you visit the Royal website - http://www.royal.gov.uk/ - you can usually find some pictures and sometimes even a video clip of recent Investitures.

Then, Erik, perhaps you could use your 'insider knowledge' to point us in the right direction to the person who is able to grant permission... as it is verging on sinful that such wonderful material cannot be shared.

Honour Cross 3rd Class, Military.

Officer's Cross, Military.