Megan

The 'ministerial' orders are indeed fascinating, I'm hoping to get pictures of all of them for my site, eventually. The four survivors are the Academic Palms, Order of Arts & Letters, Order of Agricultural Merit and Order of Maritime Merit, incidentally. Must have been some fascinating debate as they decided which ones to keep!

Subtitled, I think.

I remember that show!

Ordre de l'Economie Nationale Created by a decree of 6 January 1954 to to reward outstanding services to the French economy in the various fields of economic research, production, productivity, international economic exchanges and professional representation economically. Both French citizens and foreigners could be awarded this order, which was in three classes: Commander, Officer and Knight. It was discontinued on 1 January 1964, being replaced by the National Order of Merit. The ribbon is orange (sometimes described as saffron yellow) - the Commander being worn on a neck ribbon, the other 2 grades on the left breast with a rosette for Officers. The badge is gilt for Commanders and Officers and silver for Knights. Suspended from a gear/cog device, the badge is a complex 5-pointed star shape, white-enamelled and with a centre medallion showing an allegorical figure representing 'the economy' crowned with wheat surrounded by 10 bolts on the obverse. The reverse shows a globe surrounded by the points of a compass rose. Here is the Commander badge: -

Aaargh! Where does this go in the order of precedence?

I found it a thin article. Snow's assertions were not backed up with any evidence and the whole approach was one of knocking down ideas that are widerly held... but 'doubting leads to questioning, and questioning leads us to perceive the truth' (Abelard), here doubting merely led to counter-assertations rather than questioning and analysis, so no more reason to accept them than any other idea knocking around your head. An interesting thought I read recently was that a lot of the young men of the 'officer class' had been raised on the Classics, studying the view of warfare as presented in the Iliad and the Odessey; and that they went to war expecting much the same... and many of the poor souls were sent to meet their Maker before they could formulate a more realistic view, or having formed such did not get the chance to rise to positions of influence where they could do something about it.

Fascinating - I haven't yet encountered any illustrations of this Order for my website yet. At least I now know what I am looking for!

I have consulted the oracle, i.e. Antti Ruokonen's Lion at the Crossroads: Orders of Luxembourg, which states that awards for women are termed 'officer' or 'knight' as appropriate, but worn on a bow ribbon as in Jason's specimen.

I think the ribbon is correct and that it is one of a series issued by Wilhelm II to mark the service of former Royal Hanoverian regiments and presented in a series of parades to the 'descendants' of those regiments marking the anniversary of the battle.

Oooh, goodie! I shall look forwards to that!

Oh dear... it has been clear for quite a while that Gove knows nothing about education, it appears that he is equally as ignorant about history!

Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh! Will they ever stop? Thanks for sharing, Frank.

An interesting debate. However, let us consider its starting point: one of the least competent Ministers of Education (a post that rarely attracts much talent) that has ever been in post griping about a fictional respresentation of life in the trenches... which did, amidst the humour, give a reasonable representation of the squalor and hardships suffered by those on the front line compared to the comfort enjoyed by their commanders. As a teacher, I know that a little light relief enhances any lesson and makes the actual facts that you are imparting easier for the students to remember. Remember 'lions led by donkeys'?

Beautiful... thank you for sharing.

Aha! Thank you. Any idea of dates, terms of award or what the beasties look like?

Bless my whiskers, that was fast! I'd only got as far as finding that the header was indeed Decorations Act and then formatting the text neatly ready to start in on translating it!

Hmm. I think I have found the law establishing them, but it is of course in Estonian... and Google Translate is refusing even to attempt to translate it (returns a blank screen, grrr) The link is here: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/12906303 - ideally I'd like a translation but if someone can at least confirm it is what I think it is I'd be grateful!

Still plugging away at these... have found reference to Barbados Defence Forces Meritorious Service Cross, Meritorious Service Star and Meritorious Service Medal - but only on Jean-Paul LeBlanc's old website, where he says that he has the relevant ribbons in his collection. Has anyone heard of these?

Maarjamaa Risti teenetemärk Instituted in 1995 and awarded to Estonians and foreigners for services to the state in 6 classes. Here is the Collar, which with a star makes up a 'special' class. Obverse: Reverse:

Don't worry, I too am happily married (for almost 30 years now!), it is merely that I follow good academic custom and acknowledge my sources on my website.

Thank you very much, Graeme. May I have your last name for the acknowledgements?

Magic... especially as I am coming up a blank trying to find any images! Graeme, is there any chance you'd permit me to use your images on my website? Full acknowledgement given, of course.

Ethiopian Star of Victory 1941. It was issued to commemorate victory over the Italians and the restoration of sovereignty in 1941 by patriotic Ethiopian, British and Commonwealth troops who liberated the country, enabling Emperor Haile Selassie to re-enter Addis Ababa in triumph on 5 May.

Excellent stuff... is there a date to this document?

Thank you 'mcdermp' Fattorini have replied saying that they are unable to help