TacHel

US troops receiving the medal from the Russian Defense Minister.

US troops wearing the medal on parade on Red Square.

Thank you very much for that info Paul! I'll pass it on.

Here's a question that came up with a colleague trying to replace his grand-father's set that was lost.

His grand-father was a US Army officer who received the Legion of Honnor for WW2 service. The 3rd Republic was dead (de facto) in 1940 when Marshall Pétain assumed all powers, the 4th republic only came about in 1946.

Question #1: did the Free French bestow the LoH between 1940 and 1946?

Question #2: Since the 4th Republic only came about in 1946, were all models bestowed in 45 and 46 3rd Republic models?

Just received these two beauties.

Breast badges for "Distinguished Aviator" of the Ministry for Emergency Situations (EMERCOM).

Instituted on 14 May 2002 by ministerial order 236. Awarded to military and civilian aviation personnel of EMERCOM for outstanding performance of their assigned duties whether in flying, logistics or engineering operations. A helicopter or jet transport device on the ribbon denotes work on rotary or fixed wing aircraft.

I was quite surprised at their size, these are huge compared to other Russian breast badges. The pendant is 4,5cm in diameter. The whole award is 7,7cm from top to bottom. The ribbon devices aren't cheap tin but heavy metal. The entire construction is quite heavy and sturdy.

I finally found myself a nice Sacristain China 1860 medal. I'll now be able to finish my French frame. Thought I'd share this pic of my 2nd Empire items going into it.

I probably didn't explain myself very well... Still jet lagged...

I'm absolutely thrilled at this model! Sacristain models are much rarer and I didn't expect as much. I was looking for a Barre model simply because it's 300 EUROs+ cheaper. When my finance minister (wife) said "go for it", I almost fainted!

I finally found one! Just returned from Paris. Finally found myself an 1860 China Expedition medal. I was looking for an MOMP "Barre" but there were none to be found. And trust me, I looked! My poor wife followed me through endless kilometers of Parisian streets and countless shops (mind you, I followed her through weeks of shopping through Europe so...). Everywhere we went it was the same song "we just sold it 1 or 2 or 3 weeks ago"... But a tip from an elderly gentleman sent me to a little shop where I found this "SACRISTAIN" model. It cost more but at this point I simply didn't care anymore.

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_06_2010/post-3030-127644892514.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_06_2010/post-3030-127644893556.jpg

Thank you all for the info! Merci beaucoup à tous! :beer:

I'll be in Paris with my wife for a few days in a couple of weeks when we return from Strasbourg. I intend on stopping at Maison Platte but was wondering if some of you could recommend a few other shops? I already know about the ones near the Louvres (too expensive!) and the ones in the Royal Palace Gardens.

I want to buy an 1861 China Expedition medal, matter of fact, I'm going to Paris for that very reason (but don't let my wife know! She thinks we're going there to please her... HA!)

Every time I receive the Platte catalog and they have a few MOMP "Barre" examples for sale, they're gone by the time I phone! It's driving me nuts! This is the ONLY medal I'm missing to finish my French frame and seal the sucker!

I'd settle for models from other makers but since my 2nd Empire Italy and Mexican medals are both MOMP, I figured I'd go for the complete set...

Any help would be appreciated!

Just make sure you don't confuse "commemorative breast badges" with "commemorative medals".

Commemorative BREAST BADGES:(4 corner mounts)

-Chief Marshall of Aviation A.A. Novikov

-Colonel-General Pikalov

-Major-General Boris Alexandrov

-300 Years of Naval Infantry

-100 Years of the Submarine Force

-50 Years of the Space Age

-50 Years Moscow Commandant's Honor Guard

-Nikolaï Rimsky-Korsakov

Commemorative Medals:(5 corner mount)

-200 Years Ministry of Defense

-300 Years of Baltic Fleet

-60 Years Moscow Operational Housing Management

-50 Years Special Inspection Service

-90 Years Military Intelligence

We having fun yet?:whistle:

Are serving personnel awarded 4-corner-mount commemoratives? Or are they normally awarded to veterans? Or is it pot-luck what you get handed? Or is it that you get the 4-corner-mount commemorative if you HAVE served in the appropriate role and have moved on to something else but are still in service, and the 5-corner-mount version if you are still serving in the appropriate role?

Commemorative breast badges are all awarded on the 4 corner mount regardless of the present state of the person being decorated. Serving members, veterans and civilians all receive them on the 4 corner mount for wear on the right breast. Why so many prefer to switch them to the 5 corner mount beats me. On the 4 corner mount, a breast badge is considered a decoration while on the 5, it is relegated to the state of a mere medal worn among many others on the left breast. My Russian colleagues tell me that ribbons and mounts are readily available and incredibly cheap to purchase and as previously mentioned, nobody seems to be enforcing the regualtions that are quite explicit. I myself was able to procure quite a few modern Russian replacement ribbons last month and they were so cheap my Russian contact didn't even bother to ask me for any money for them.

If you go on my Wikipedia page for the Defense Ministry, you'll notice all commemorative breast badges are on the 4 corner mount, I removed the pictures I had that were mounted on the 5 corner mount following many conversations with Russian collectors and servicemen.

Just to clarify a point about the 4 versus 5 corner medal mounts. Info I picked up in multiple Russian forums is that there is NO regulation allowing any serving member of any service to remount a commemorative breast badge on a 5 corner military mount. They just do it... And nobody enforces the rules.

In post #16, top badge, you are correct.

Badge "For Long Range Cruise", Soviet Navy, instituted on 22 May 1961. Awarded to the most distinguished, highly disciplined military and civilian personnel of the Navy who participate in long-range cruises on vessels of the Navy, provided that the missions are successful. For all vessels, transition from one ocean to another; for vessels of under 1000 tons, a 30 day cruise with a distance of at least 500 miles from departure point; for vessels of over 1000 tons, a 45 day cruise depending on home port, Northern Fleet - the limits of the Norwegian Sea, Pacific fleet – 3000 miles from point of origin, Black Sea Fleet and the Novorossiysk Naval district - outside of the Aegean Sea, Baltic fleet - beyond the North Sea. Specifically for submarines, a cruise with no docking amounting to more than half of the full autonomy of the vessel.

This particular variant was bestowed up until 1976 when it was replaced by the variant below.

Medal "For Participation in the Military Victory Day Parade"

Instituted on 26 February 2010 by ministerial order 130.

Coming back to the "couronné par l'Académie française" statement, this would simply mean that at one time or an other the association which "bestowes" such "awards" discussed on this post received some kind of a recognition from the Académie française. It certainly does not apply to the person who wears that type of private badge.

Basically, all this is self-promotion within an mutual-admiration-society as the song used to go. It can sound very confusing indeed !

Veteran

That is a good explanation. Merci!

Sweet stuff!

These awards come with an official looking award document bearing a very official looking stamp. The stamp clearly identifies the organization (if you can read Russian) as the Russian Awards Committee - Российский Наградной Комитет.

The document will NEVER have a complete ministerial identification on the inside such as "Ministry of Defense Russian Federation", or "Ministry of Internal Affaires Russian Federation". They can however very often have the ministerial accronym as part the award title/name such as "Veteran of the MVD", MVD being short for Ministry of Internal Affairs.

They will NEVER have a ministerial or departmental emblem on the cover. Usually a dead givaway.

17- Commemorative Medal "Veteran of Borders Troops"

18- Order "For Service to Russia" (red variant)

19- Order "For Service to Russia" (blue variant)

20- Medal "100 years of Russian submarine fleet"

21- Medal "Veteran of the GRU Spetsnaz"

22- Medal "Veteran of the Air Force" (variant with attack helicopter)

23- Medal for "Defender of the Borders of the Fatherland"

24- Medal "Veteran of the Air Force" (variant with jet fighter)

25- Commemorative Medal "65 years of Defense of Moscow"

26- Commemorative Medal "Participant in the Afghan War"

27- Order of duty and honor (red variant)

28- Order of duty and honor (blue variant)

29- Order "Marshal Zhukov"

30- Commemorative Medal "65 Years of the Fall of Berlin"

1- Jubilee Medal "to mark the centenary of Leonid Brezhnev"

2- Medal "Veteran of State Security"

3- Medal "90 years of Border troops"

4- Medal "90 years of the Russian Militia"

5- Medal « Veteran of the MVD »

6- Medal "Day of Artillery and Rocket troops"

7- Commemorative Medal "65 years of the Battle of Kursk"

8- Commemorative Medal "65 years of the Battle of Stalingrad"

9- Medal "Navy Veteran"

10- Medal "50 years of the submarine Leninskii Komsomol"

11- Medal "The Varyag Cruiser Monument"

12- Commemorative Medal "for Service at Baikonur"

13- Medal "Space exploration" (50 years)

14- Commemorative Medal "Tomsk School of Communication" (80 years)

15- Jubilee Medal "Veteran of Air Defense Forces"

16- Commemorative Medal "50 Years of Strategic Rocket Troops"

In my ongoing efforts to inform my phaleristics colleagues, and by the same token attempt at stirring more interest on the subject, I think it necessary to point out the multitude of non governmental groups, agencies, associations etc that are issuing medals at an incredible rate. I do this so people will not spend good earned money on items that are most of the time mislabeled as military or state awards on the market. Mind you, if these interest you, by all means, go for it.

The "RUSSIAN AWARDS COMMITTEE" is a civilian organization that I know little about save the fact it is one of the most prolific groups issuing medals. All of the awards below are from that group/association/organization (circle you fav), all are unofficial yet you will very often find them erroneously or purposely misidentified as state, ministerial or military awards on the market, they are NOT.

Note: If anybody can find their web site, please post a link in this thread. My attempts have only resulted in finding bios of people who received these awards or lists of recipients. I would like to know the basis for this organization.

Some of the major groups dishing out unofficial awards are the Party of Peace and Unity (called Umalatova medals), the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Russian Awards Committe.

You can find them at these links:

UMALATOVA medals

Communist Party awards

Russian Awards Committee awards

I don't know an award being semi-official. It can be unofficial, but tolerated, as the Medal for the wounded for example, but the medal itself is still unofficial.

That my friend, is the best, plainest, straightest definition I've heard in a long time! Your logic is irreproachable! (Sorry for the Star Trek quote).

I've just crossed out the term "semi-official" from my glossary.

I must admit though that the term "tolerated" opens such an incredible can of worms... But heh, politics will always remain politics.

Looks like a free assertion...

This was also my first impression... But it was mentioned in all of the links I found... This led me to hesitantly (perhaps completely erroneously) call it "semi-official".

Hi Veteran. I'm in no position to argue this one, I had only seen it a few times before. Every single reference I found on the Médaille or Étoile Civique confirm the dates and the acquiescence of the Académie Française. But eventhough my first language is French, I must admit at being a bit perplexed and puzzled at the exact meaning of this phrase: "...une Institution couronnée par l'Académie française". "An institution (crowned)?? by the French Academy".

Any thoughts? Ideas on the exact meaning?

Here's where the info came from, all are in French though...

1st ref 2nd ref 3rd ref 4th ref Got more...

15- Jubilee Medal “90 years of the Union Leninist Communist Youth League”

16- Medal “80 Years of the Border Troops of the USSR”

17- Medal “90 Years of the Great October Revolution”