Carol I

I have also found this image of a set of 4/8 stamps issued in 1951, with the following orders and medals. 2. Medal of Labour 4. Order of the Star of RPR 11. Order of Labour 35. Order of the Star of RPR

And here is an image of the 1994 block (from eBay).

This is a badge of a brigadier, a member of a working brigade of the Union of Communist Youth in Romania. On the reverse it is written: "35 years since the establishment of the national youth building sites".

I think De strajă Patriei would best be translated as Guarding the Homeland.

Medalia ?De strajă Patriei? had been awarded to military personnel for distinguished achievements in their service missions or for outstanding results when carrying their orders.

This is another confounding factor. The Honour Cross for Merit used the same cross as the Grand Cross star of the Honour Sign/Order for Merit.

Take a look on eBay. I have just spotted the set in blocks of four as item 260221663951.

Hi, Elmar! No need to apologise for the delay or the confusion between the cross and the sign/order. It appears your badge looks like a Honour Cross for Merit. However, the crown makes it suspicious as in the literature on Romanian orders this award is not mentioned to have had a crown. It is true that there was no official description of the peacetime award, but when wartime awards were introduced and described, the crown was not mentioned either. Besides, it appears to have less detail than I have seen in images of this decorations. Please see below an image of the Honour Cross for Merit from the book Rom?nia - Decoraţii 1859-1991.

You're welcome, Anatoly. Here is an image of the 2006 set, from Romfilatelia.

You're welcome, Kevin. :beer:

23 August 1944 had been only a Romanian operation. The soviets became involved only after things calmed down...

I think this is one stamp of a set of 9 presenting modern (for RPR) sculptures. This particular one was called "The Encounter" by Boris Caragea.

This issue only marked 10 years since 23.08.1944.

There are several sets. 1951 - Orders and medals, 8 stamps 1952 - Orders and medals, 4 stamps (overprinted) 1994 - Military decorations, 4 stamps in block 2006 - Orders of Romania, 4 stamps

The Romanian Communist Party appeared in 1921. This stamp marks the creation of the young communist union, UTC, in 1922.

It actually marked 40 years since the formation of a communist-led/initiated national antifascist committee in 1933.

There could be some confusion regarding these two decorations as they bore quite similar names for some time. Information regarding them is rather scarce, but this is what I could piece together. The Order for Merit was established in 1932 as a dynastic award under the name the Honour Sign for Merit. The Honour Cross for Merit was established one year later as a separate award that complemented of the former. When established both awards were under the exclusive control of the king, without the involvement of the chancellery of orders that administered the national orders. They were included in the list of national decorations in 1937, but following the abdication of Carol II in 1940 they were no longer mentioned in the list of military decorations.

Good luck Dan with your collection. The ribbon bar for this order and class was yellow with three thin red stripes in the centre plus two on the edges (one on each side).

No photos yet, Elmar? It would be really intersting to see the crowned badge you mentioned.

I see what you mean. After WWII there were many who were named "illegal fighters" (luptători in ilegalitate, ilegalişti etc.) for actions in the 1930s and 1940s and some of them saw rapid advance through the ranks of the party or the army, but I do not think they were automatically covered by these medals. "Rank jumping" rewarded loyalty to the system and ignored long service. Besides, I do not remember the word "resistance" being mentioned in relation to the illegal actions of the communists. It was mainly used in relation to partisan activity, but there was nothing like that in WWII Romania.

What do you mean by "resistance"?

The 1st and 2nd classes of the RPR version are somewhat unusual. They are either RSR awards with old-type badges or awards to the few who swore allegiance to the king when entering the army and who managed to avoid the repeated purges aimed at the "blood-sucking enemies of the people". Good luck in finding them!

Then it's not the Order for Merit, Elmar. Does it look like the one below? If it does then it might be a Honour Cross for Merit. The one below was displayed in the National Military Museum (with a wrong ribbon though). But as you can see neither these had crown suspensions.

Here is an image of a (fake) officer's badge of the Order for Merit. Does your badge look like it, Elmar?

The Order for Merit had a white-enamelled cross.