Lukasz Gaszewski

One of the saddest Hungarian medals. It was awarded to those who took active part in suppression of the Hungarian Rising of 1956.

credit to OMSA medal database

I have seen Christopher Buyers' and Yuri's sites but not much out there. Contacting the Shah sounds a good idea. Thank you.

L.

However strange this might look, the last ribbon seems to be of a Danish medal, which should not be surprising for Mecklemburg. It was probably for the Medal of Merit or the Life Saving Medal, but who knows... This ribbon was common of several Danish awards.

I do not have much hope, but perhaps... I will owe a lot to anyone who can supply me with information about the following decorations of the Empire of Iran:

• Neshaan-e-Daraksh
• Neshaan-e-Danesh
• Neshaan-e-Honar
• Neshaan-e-Avecinna
• Neshaan-e-Razy
• Sepahy Medal
• Padash Medal
• Farr Medal

Thanks in advance,

Lukasz

A puzzle to me. The Army ROTC Superior Cadet Award ribbon is blue with white and red stripes, while that of the Junior ROTC Superior Cadet Award is red with white and blue stripes, but in both cases the stripes are EDGE stripes rather than SIDE stripes like here. A new type or just a ribbon variant? The badge itself looks the same. Can somebody explain? Thanks for posting.

Hi Doc,

A nice piece. Basically, the medal was awarded for half-year service in a combat zone or one-year service outside combat zone. For each successive bar the length of service was doubled. The reverse reads: "Poland to her defender". Just a small correction, if you don't mind: this is the second type, the the first type being without enamel. The enameled type started to be manufactured (I don't have access to references at the moment, so this can be not too precise) in ca. 1960s.

Cheers,

Lukasz

I do share Ed's belief too. The upper classes were supposed to have enameled central medallion. But again not sure...

Not exactly Freikorps, but related. Stahlhelm rank nisignia:

http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p...100&sid=572

Hello,

You have been waiting long, but finally it is : here comes the 2nd and 3rd class of the M?rito Militar. The 1st class looks alike, but is a pin decoration with no ribbon.

It is interesting, by the way, how little information is available about Mexican decorations. It is a big, well-developed country in North America, with a well-known language, and the resources in comparison to USA or Canada are less than modest. Don't know why.

Best regards,

Lukasz

Yes, the ribbon for the OP Vijay Star has been redesigned, to add a dark blue stripe (representing the navy and presumably acknowledging all those ships sailing in the high Himalayas?).

Ed,

Updated! Thanks for quick response. BTW, do you know when the Operation Vijay Star and Medal and Coast Guard LSM were established?

Best regards,

Lukasz

Hello,

Thank you for sharing all these photos. Look here. Ed, could you please post a description to the new ribbon of the Operation Vijar Star. Thanks.

Cheers,

Lukasz

PS:

The High Altitude Medal is one of those awards that had its ribbon designed by a committee of "experts" who never dealt with the pragmatic question of how or whether the ribbon could actually be produced, or produced economically (for a medal that more members of at least the army and air force would qualify for at some time in their careers). Apparently, this chevron ribbon seemed a sexy and evocative design on paper and no one thought about the realities until later.

What is a camel? A horse designed by a committee.

L.

The 'mixing' of fourrageres seems to be Belgian invention. Have never heard of it. A good idea anyway. Is it found in other countries' fourrageres too?

What about the remaining Belgian orders: Order of the Crown, of Leopold II and of the Lion. Have they had fourrageres as well?

I think the difference lies in the name itself. A cord which originates from a decoration for a unit and which has a metal ferret (pencil) at the end is called a fourragere, while the one which is not associated with an order or decoration, and does not have a pencil is referred to as a lanyard. Lanyards do not have to be awarded for meritorious service - sometimes they are simply part of the uniform, denoting unit affiliation or qualification.

For example a few Polish units during WWII authorized lanyards (not fourrageres!) of different colors to wear, but I have been able to determine only two that were awarded for recognition of gallantry: soldiers of the 1st Independent Brigade of Podhale Rifles received a lanyard in Norwegian national colors from King Haakon for participation in defense of Norwayin 1940 and members of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade for gallantry at Arnhem, during Operation Market Garden in 1944 received the Dutch Orange Lanyard from the Queen. Some other Polish units were authorized to wear French and Belgian fourrageres as well.

I have an idea: let's make a list all fourrageres/lanyards awarded for gallantry or meritorious service. My proposals are as follows:

France - fourrageres to:

1. Legion d'Honneur

2. Medaille militaire

3. Croix de Guerre WWI

4. Croix de Guerre TOE

5. Croix de Guerre WWII

Belgium - fourrageres to:

1. Order of Leopold

2. Croix de Guerre (did the fourrageres for WWI and WWII have different patterns?)

I wonder if the Order of the Crown had a fourragere as well.

The Netherlands:

1. Orange Lanyard

2. Red Lanyard

Norway:

1. Norwegian Lanyard

Romania - fourrageres to:

1. Order of Michael the Brave

2. Military Virtue Medal

3. Order for Aeronautical Virtue

4. Order of the Star of Romania

(Credit to Carol I)

Poland - a fourragere to:

1. Order of the Military Cross - a very fresh one

I wonder what other countries use(d) fourrageres/lanyards. I am curious about Portugal for example. The country had a War Cross, modeled on the French CdG. Any Portugese specialists here?

Cheers,

Lukasz

The last ribbon is the ribbon of the Medaille f?r treue Dienste in der Kasernierten Volkspolizei. Die Kasernierte Volkspolizei (Quartered People's Police, KVP), founded in 1952, was actually a military rather than police formation, not named "army" for political grounds. In 1956 the majority of the formation was transformed into the Nationale Volksarmee. The medal was worn after the Medaille f?r treue Dienste in der NVA.

I have a number of photos of DDR medals I have downloaded from a German website, which is down now. I wonder if I can upload them on the forum, as I cannot ask the owner's permission

Lukasz

I think you are right. The soldiers of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade obtained the right to wear the Orange Lanyard in 1944 or 1945, while the banner of the Brigade was awarded with the Order of William by Queen Beatrix as late as in 2006. I saw the diploma of the award at the Polish Institute in London. This means that unlike the Franch or Belgian fourragere, which always comes with a decoration to a unit, the Orange Lanyard is a separate award.

What about the Red Lanyard? Isn't it the countarpart of the Orange Lanyard for peacetime operations?

Best regards,

Lukasz

However, the Netherlands Army also has a red lanyard (just called Red Lanyard) awarded for meritorious acts by NCO and enlisted men. I have no clue how that one looks like off uniform.

The Orange Lanyard is a unit verion of the Military Order of William. It looks quite simple. You can read more about it here.

Hello Your Majesty,

My fault! Thanks for correcting me. And two questions:

1) do you know if there was a fourrgere to the orders of the Crown of Romania and of the Naval Merit too?

2) most of major Romanian orders (with the exception of the Crown of Romania for obvious reasons) have been restored. Do you know if the fourageres for them have been provided as well?

It seems to be a "fourragere day" at GMIC look here.

Best regards,

Lukasz

I believe the fourragere was attached to the Order of Michael the Brave. Soldiers of the unit awarded with the order were entitled to wear it as long as they remained with the unit. The blue reflected the color of the order badge's enamel.

I have always been amazed at how unorthodox DDR recipients were about the order of wearing of their medals. Although there were detailed regulations regarding precedence, the decorations were not infrequently seen in a different order, DDR medals being mixed with the medals of the other countries of the bloc. Practically the only rule was to keep the long service medals at the bottom.

I think it can be the next person

The french General Raoul Monclar

http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/686.html

Bingo!!!

In this case r10#4 is the Croix de Guerre Hell?nique and r11#1 Order of the Star of Romania.

Still unidentified remains r10#3. I'm just thinking if this cannot be the South Korean Order of Military Merit 'Taeguk' class, Monclar was also supposed to have. The ribbon ought to be light blue with four narrow white stripes on either side.

OK, the name of 3rd row #2 is actually M?daille des Services Volontaires dans la France Libre. The M?daille de la France Libre is a different medal.

The 11th row #1 looks like the Lithuanian Order of the Vytis Cross (???) and #4 like Syrian Order of Bravery. My assumption is that the latter may have been awarded also when the country was the French mandatory territory, although I don't have any sources to prove that. I cannot think of any other decoration with a ribbon like that.

These are my types (in italics):

1st row:

1. M?daille Militaire

2. Ordre National de la L?gion d'Honneur - Grand croix

3. Ordre de la Lib?ration

2nd row:

1. Croix de guerre 1914 -1918 with a number of citations (palms and stars)

2. Croix de guerre des Th??tres d'op?rations ext?rieures with a number of citations

3. Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with a number of citations (three palms, actually)

3rd row:

1. M?daille de la R?sistance avec rosette

2. Medaille de la France Libre

3. Croix du Combattant Volontaire 1914 -1918

4. M?daille des ?vades

4th row:

1. M?daille Coloniale with what appears to be two clasps

2. M?daille Coloniale with what appears to be three clasps

3. Croix du combattant volontaire de la R?sistance/Cross of the Voluntary Combatant of the Resistance

4. Croix du combattant

5th row:

1. M?daille Interalli?e 1914 -1918 dite ?M?daille de la Victoire?/Interallied Victory Medal

2. Medaille commemorative 1914-1918

3. Medaille commemorative 1939-1945 (again with clasps)

4. M?daille des Bless?s Militaires with seven stars

6th row:

1. Krigskorset/War Cross

2. Kongelige Norske St. Olavs Orden/Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf - Grand Cross

3. Deltagermedaljen 9. april 1940-8. mai 1945/Participation Medal 1940-45

4. Krigsmedaljen/War Medal

7th row:

1. Ordre royal du Cambodge

2. M?daille comm?morative des Op?rations de l'O.N.U. en Cor?e/Commemorative Medal for UN Operations in Korea

3. Republic of Korea War Service Medal

4. United Nations Service Medal

8th row:

1. Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division

2. Legion of Merit, Chief Commander (USA)

3. Silver Star (USA)

4. Belgium Order of Leopold (?)

9th row:

1. Virtuti Militari (Poland)

2. Military Cross (United Kingdom)

3. Syrian Order of Civli Merit (?)

4. Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco)

10th row:

1. Croix de guerre (Belgium)

2. Merite Libanais or Order of the Cedar

3.

4.

11th row:

1.

2. Ordre d'Etoile de Comore (?)

3. Dragon d'Annam

4.

I guess who these might belong to, but I don't want to spoil the fun.

Lukasz

The medaille militaire isn't that surprising, it was a medal with very strict rules, thus quite highly prised!!!

But then the ordre d LA lib?ration still really should have precedence over the legion d'Honneur!!!

Well it isn't. I guess it has been the rule for generals awarded with Medaille militaire to have the GC of LoH before.

Also ##1,2 in 4th row are the two ribbons of the Medaille Coloniale (or Outre-mer), but the French manner of adding clasps makes them hardly visible.

#4 in9th row is Morocco's Ouissam-Alauite rather than Polonia Restituta.

#1, 6th row can be the Norwegian Krigskorset, but the ribbon IS of the Bronze Star (white edges!)

OK, I've got to go to work - and want to give other folks a chance! Happy hunting!

Lukasz

I haven't spotted any section intended for international awards (NATO, UN etc.), so I am posting it here. My question is as follows: does anybody know the proper placement of NATO MSM on the British and Canadian uniform? OK, I know that on the British uniform NATO medals are normally worn together with other campaign medals, on the Canadian uniform they follow Canadian campaign medals and UN medals. But the MSM is different, as it is awarded for merit rather than for participation in a particular mission, so logically it should precede other NATO medals. Are British and Canadian military authorized to wear NATO MSM at all?

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