Megan

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.

Honour Cross 1st Class, Military.

Grand Cross Star, Military Division.

Grand Cross Badge, Military Division

Hausorden des Ehrenkreuzes Instituted: 1869, revised 1890; in 5 grades & civil and military divisions. Honour Cross 2nd Class, Civil.

Quite right - Kingdom of Egypt Order of the Nile, Grand Commander (Blue ribbon with yellow edges). Other ones are: - Green with double red edge: Tunisia Order of the Republic. Red with yellow edge: Ethiopia Order of the Trinity Yellow with green & red edge stripes: Ethiopia Order of Emperor Menelik II Green, yellow & red ribbon: Ethiopia Order of the Star of Ethiopia

The Royal Warrant says "The Decoration shall be worn from the left breast suspended from a ribbon, 32 mm in width, of five stripes of dark blue, yellow, red, yellow, and dark blue."

No more than bit about the 'real' one going to be a bit darker blue at the moment, but I'll see what I can find out.

Not very much better... The actual decoration will be in a black leatherette case rather than the red one here. The blue in the production ribbon is going to be a bit darker as well. Hopefully better picture in a week or so!

My French is fluent, but I cannot find an e-mail address either... which I wanted to as there are some of my pictures on there so I wanted to offer more in the hope of being able to set up a trade of images! The site's tendency to play music (generally the appropriate nation's anthem) is annoying as well...

Orden de los Cinco Volcanes Instituted: March 1961. Awarded: For service to Central American unity. Knight:

HM The Queen has stopped wearing it, though... she used to back in the 1960s, but it hasn't come out for quite a while.

Extant United Kingdom orders are Garter, Thistle, Bath, Merit, St Michael & St George, Royal Victorian, & British Empire, also the Companion of Honour. The Distinguished Service Order is actually a military decoration, despite its name! Likewise the Imperial Service Order stands the same service for mid-range grades of the Civil Service. The Garter is traditional for Prime Ministers who retire from office, and is likely to be offered... we'll hear about it if Blair accepts.

Having now been shown some pictures of genuine specimens of this medal, I agree with the assessment that this puppy is a fake. So I shall go & take it off my website forthwith. I've asked permission to use the genuine pictures, if I get it then I'll post 'em here...

Please note that someone has made an assertion that this is a fake. I await some substantive evidence from him to back up his claim, but of course will remove it if he is proven to be correct.