Megan

Alexander Davison, Nelson's prize agent, distributed a medal for the Battle of the Nile which was usually worn on a blue ribbon (but of course quite unofficial)... and not as spectacular! It was made by Matthew Boulton, http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_10_2011/post-1530-0-24731800-1319541217.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_10_2011/post-1530-0-08955100-1319541252.jpg It came in several varieties, this is a gold one as awarded to Captains, there was a silver one for other officers, a copper-gilt one for petty officers and a bronzed-copper version for seamen and marines. Examples of the latter two featured in Morton & Eden's auction of the collection of the American Numismatical Society (Part 1).

Glorious as ever, thank you for sharing! Emmanuel, do you have the URL of the website with the details of all the orders that you mentioned earlier on the thread, please?

PM sent, you kind soul :)

Fascinating - and frustrating! - isn't it. I have a spate of job interviews this coming week, but will settle down and post a translation of the law regarding this Order which might help us in our quest.

It is one I haven't seen before, Richard - I was working from my translations of the relevant laws which describe the design of the medals - is there any chance you'd be willing to permit me to use that picture on my site?

I think it's the Medal for the Gravely Wounded, Invalids of War (Médaille de grand blessé, mutilé de guerre).

Finally, here is the Dignity for Foreign Heads of State (Athir): Again, many thanks to Heinke Holsten-Stephan for sharing these!

Pretty much identical to the Presidential insignia, except for having white enamel instead of red. I don't have a picture of the Star, but here is the Sash & Badge - look closely and you can see a crescent and star woven into the material of the sash.

Next is the Dignity of the Chancellor of the Order (Amid), who also gets to wear a Collar, a Sash Badge or a Star. Here's the Collar:

Here is the neck badge - interestingly, the actual badge is a simpler form of the insignia (perhaps the whole thing is a bit heavy to hang round your neck!):

And the Star: The interesting thing is that according to the regulations (I found the original text of the law establishing the Order) it could be worn as a Collar or as the Breast Star (here) or as a sash badge or as a neck badge.

Now, a real treat! I just had an e-mail with some glorious pictures of the Dignity insignia of the Order. So, with many thanks to Heike Holsten-Stephan, here they are. First, the Collar of the Dignity for the President of the Republic (Sadr):

Thanks, Lars - I'll drop him a line and ask...

I think it was, Michael. When King Christian X instituted the Order, he appointed himself Grand Master and had a Collar - which alternated the blue oval with a falcon with his own monogram. I have a not-very-good picture of it, and a clear image of a couple of the links, which will be posted in due course failing my finding anything better! The revised statutes of 1944 do state Grand Master and may be awarded to foreign Heads of State. 'Ordinary' recipients of the Grand Cross have never been awarded it, as far as I can see.

And the reverse: This shows the other major change in the insignia - the legend on the reverse now reads Seytjándi Juní 1944 (17 June 1944), the date on which Iceland gained her independence. Off to research the pre-1944 insignia now...

Finally, the Knight. Here's the post-1944 insignia:

The Grand Knight with Star star also did not change in 1944. Here it is:

The Grand Knight with Star and Grand Knight classes both wear a neck badge, the Grand Knight with Star also has... a star. As far as I can tell the badge is the same for both classes. (I am looking for a better image....)

And the Grand Cross Star, which didn't change at all!

Here is the Grand Cross badge (post-1944): The insignia changed very little with Iceland's independence, the most obvious is that the badge originally had a Danish Royal Crown over a stylised rosette, while the post-1944 version has a fleur-de-lys instead.

Hin Íslenzka Fálkaorda This was instituted 3 July 1921 by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland. The statutes were revised on 11 July 1944 after Iceland became a republic. It is awarded for services to Iceland or to humanity, to both Icelandic citizens and foreigners in 4 classes (Grand Cross, Grand Knight with Star, Grand Knight & Knight). The President of Iceland serves as Grand Master and apart from the President, the Collar of the Order is only conferred on foreign Heads of State. But here it is:

In a rather successful burst of Google-fu, I have found the 1 June 1991 issue of the JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE ALGERIENNE This has details of the Médaille de blessé sans citation as depicted in Emmanuel's post above, and some other medals as well. Now to sit down & translate it... But got distracted by a further burst of Google-fu, here's the Algerian website with ALL their official stuff: http://www.joradp.dz/

Ooh, magic, both of you!! Many thanks. I have been delving as well since I made the initial post. In a law of 2 January 1984, a set of 4 medals relating to the war for independence was instituted. They are known collectively as Les médailles des Moudjahidine (Medals of the Mujahedeen) and between them mark the various contributions individual Algerians made. The first is the Medal for Martyrs of the War of Liberation (Médaille de martyr de la guerre de libération nationale) which is indeed a table medal given in commemoration of those who lost their lives. It is 100mm in diameter. The obverse depicts a crescent and star within an ornamental frame and a ring of thirty-two sword rays surrounded by a text from the Holy Qur'an. The reverse shows the dates 1954-1962 and a serial number. Next is the Medal for the Gravely Wounded, Invalids of War (Médaille de grand blessé, mutilé de guerre). As you can imagine, that's awarded to anyone seriously injured during the struggle for independence. There are also 2 'service' medals, awarded depending on how the individual served: the Medal of the Army of National Liberation and the Medal of the Resistance, and as Emmanuel says, you couldn't receive both. The Friends of the Algerian Revolution Medal came later, being instituted on 30 June 1987 and being awarded to foreigners who supported the struggle for independence either materially or by speaking out in support. However, it appears to have had a half white, half green ribbon with white edges. The half green, half red ribbon with or without star seems to be the Medal of Honour, instituted 24 November 1990 and awarded for 25 years' service to the state. The star indicates service in the armed forces, and the version without star is awarded for civilian service. The Medal of the Wounded with Citation has a different ribbon, white with 2 narrow red edge stripes and a star, otherwise the actual medal is the same. The research continues...

Instituted 30 June 1987, and awarded to foreigners who supported Algeria's struggle for independence. [Picture credit: Ed Haynes]

I am having difficulty finding out about current Algerian ODM, or sorting out the order of precedence for those I have found out about. Anyone able to help? So far my very tentative version is: National Order of Merit Medal for Martyrs of the War of National Liberation Medal for the Gravely Wounded, Invalids of War Medal of the Army of National Liberation Medal of the Resistance Medal of the Friends of the Algerian Revolution Medal for Veterans of the Revolution Medal of Military Merit Medal of Honour Medal of the National People's Army Medal of the Wounded with Army Citation Medal of the Wounded Even pictures of Algerians wearing medals are rare, here's one that I have found: Suggestions for improvements, or other ODM to add, would be appreciated.