ChrisW

Another nice one, Owain. Yes, the gilt palm device was only seen on the Order. Although in your case it looks like the device may have been removed from the ribbon.

Owain, Thanks for sharing this especially nice group. It's a particularly fine example of the colored thread style -- unlike some of the terrible ones I own! You're right, it is fairly rare to find an example with pre-revolution medals.

Excellent question! Give me a couple of days and I'll scan the reverses. (I did these scans weeks ago but didn't get around to posting them until tonight.)

... and finally from me, at least for the moment... My most recent addition, and a bad photo. Another "colored thread" ribbon bar I purchased on Ebay, and another plausible one that was probably genuinely awarded to someone. - Sinai Liberation, October 6 Memorial with disk - Army Day, Tenth and Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution I already see replies to some of these posts, I'd better get cracking on answering those!

These two I purchased off Ebay in the past few years. Unlike some of the Egyptian ribbon bars I've seen on Ebay, these could plausibly have been issued. (The combination of ribbons of some of the bars on Ebay are very very strange indeed... although, as I have noted, you'll see strange combinations being worn.) The top one is another "colored thread" example, and a pretty terrible one: 6 October Memorial (with the "6" on a disk which is not always seen, and the significance of which is unknown); Army Day; Sinai Liberation. The bottom one is a single ribbon -- which are extremely rarely seen in practice, as I've noted most officers don't seem to bother wearing fewer than three ribbons -- of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution medal. For some reason it is lacking the usual "20" on a disk.

And here are one each from the Air Defense Forces and the Navy, purchased from Bichay in the early/mid-1990s. On the Air Defense (top) one: - Sinai Liberation; Air Defense Forces Day - October 6 Memorial; Army Day Commemorative; Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution On the Navy (bottom) one: - Victory Medal; Sinai Liberation; Long Service and Good Example - October 6 Memorial; Navy Day; Tenth and Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution These groups raise more comments: - The top one lacks the 10th anniversary of the revolution medal, it's very rare not to see both the 10th and 20th worn together - Why would a member of the Air Defense Forces, a separate military branch, also wear the Army Day medal? Did he switch branches at some point? - How could the recipient of the Navy group be eligible for the Victory Medal (awarded for the 1956 War) without earning some of the other Nasser-era commemorative medals? This -- and many other observations -- make me strongly inclined to believe that the ribbons of Nasser-era commemorative medals are "re-used" for other purposes, or possibly that some Egyptian officers wear ribbons they're not eligible for. I should add that, since these were manufactured by Bichay, and on display for sale there, that they were made specifically for individual officers, rather than just being "display" examples in the hope that random foreigners like myself would walk in.....

Two Air Force ribbon bars, purchased at Bichay in the late 1980s. On the top one: - Sinai Liberation Medal; Medal of Military Duty; Medal of Long Service and Good Example - October 6 Memorial Medal; Silver Anniversary of the Air Force Medal; Tenth Anniversary of the Revolution Medal; Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution Medal On the bottom one: - Sinai Liberation Medal; October 6 Memorial Medal; Silver Anniversary of the Air Force Medal - Tenth Anniversary of the Revolution Medal; Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution Medal; Gold Anniversary of the Air Force Medal Some observations: - Egyptian ribbon bars don't often follow a strict order of precedence. Witness the Medal of Military Duty being worn after the Sinai Liberation Medal. - Note the difference in weaves between the Sinai Liberation and October 6 medals.

Here we have the ribbons of the Sinai Liberation Medal and Egypt's Kuwait Liberation Medal. Most, if not all, Egyptian soldiers I've seen wearing the Egyptian KLM also wear the Kuwaiti Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait, and often the Saudi or UAE versions of this medal. It's also rare to see a two-ribbon bar; most Egyptian officers don't seem to wear fewer than three ribbons. (Possibly because by the time they've earned three medals they can afford to start getting fancier with their uniforms?) This ribbon bar was purchased from Maison Tawfiq Bichay in Cairo, and is typical of most modern ribbons bars.

Gentlemen, This is my collection (so far!) of Egyptian medal ribbon bars. All are current (i.e., post-1952 revolution, Republic era). First up is this one: - Liberation Order with palm; Commemorative Medal of the United Arab Republic; Military Medal of the Evacuation - Medal of Long Service and Good Example; Victory Medal; Military Medal of Independence - October 6 Memorial Medal [1973 War campaign medal]; Army Day Commemorative Medal; Tenth Anniversary of the Revolution Medal; Twentieth Anniversary of the Revolution Medal Note that the ribbons are made from colored threads, wrapped around the metal bars. This method was used by at least one manufacturer in the Cairo area (for the life of me I cannot remember if it was northeast of the city center near the airport, or northwest of the city center in Giza -- forgive, I bought this there around 1981, when I was ten years old.)

Zambia! Sometimes called the "wiggly stripe" pattern. (If you're into exotic camouflage, the book "DPM" (Maharishi/Hardy Blechman, London, 2004) is an invaluable resource. It's available new or used on Amazon, although it usually runs over $100 and weighs close to ten pounds....) Cheers, Chris