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Medal for Exceptional Achievements in Military Service (NCO - white stripe). Photos found on ebay

1st class!

Finally some nicer photos of Order of the Republic.

That idea did cross my mind, I thought he might have received the order as a part of some delegation. But then again I checked the list for other Serbian recipients and no one else was awarded at that time. Yesterday I sent a message through contact page on Swedish Royal Court website. I received the following answer: "The Serbian Lieutenant Velislav Milovanovic was awarded the Knights badge of the Royal Order of Vasa, 1 class, in 1888. Regrettably we don´t have any information about the background for decorating him." Unfortunately it seems that this will remain a mystery. Anyway thank you for all your help.

Thank you very much for the prompt reply, I really appreciate your willingness to help. I found my ancestor's name in the online list you were so kind to share with me, he was awarded even earlier than I thought. I wonder for what reason was one lieutenant 1st class from the Kingdom of Serbia awarded with the Order of Wasa... Especially considering that just a few Serbs had the honor to receive a Swedish order. If you ever need some help regarding Serbian or Yugoslav militaria, please, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Greetings, I've recently discovered that one of my ancestors was awarded with the Swedish Royal Order of Vasa. This happened in the late XIX century, somewhere between 1894 and 1899 to be more precise. At that time he was judicial officer (captain 1st class or major) in the Army of Kingdom of Serbia. I know next to nothing about Swedish orders so I'd be very grateful if someone could help me regarding the following questions. Do complete lists of recipients exist and are they available to the public? Is it possible to do any kind of research based on the name of the recipient and other information I posted above? I presume lists of recipients were published in official gazette, do they exist in digital form and can I access them online? One more thing, is it possible to say which grade would he receive and could someone show me an example of a late XIX century Order of Vasa? What should I look for in case I try to find a replacement order? Regards

I agree with you, Bulgaria is of course Balkan state but it can also be regarded as part of Eastern Europe so it could go either way. To me personally it makes more sense to put it here. Regardless of geography there's more chance you'll get answers in Central & Eastern European States section. Best regards

Greetings and welcome to GMIC, Bulgaria is in the Central & Eastern European States section: http://gmic.co.uk/forum/166-central-amp-eastern-european-states/

I think that box was used for order made V. Mayer's Söhne. First thing I noticed was the coat of arms, it's from principality era so the box must have been made somewhere between 1877-1882. In that period there were 3 main producers Rothe, VMC and later Fürst. I compared the coat of arms with the one seen on boxes made by Rothe and Fürst and it's different. Then I compared it with the coat of arms seen on the octagonal box made by VMC from Car/Muhić book (general Belimarković's star came in it) and it looks pretty much the same. Next to photo is written that separately ordered stars were delivered in octagonal boxes on top of which names of orders and similar information were inscribed, I presume that was the case with the rest of the classes too. If you take a look at other boxes of that producer you'll notice a big variety. I could be wrong but all things considered I think there's a big probability the box was made VMC (if that producer made it's own boxes). One more detail caught my attention, inscription says "ВЕЛИКИ ОФИЦИРСКИ КРСТ" meaning Grand Officer Cross (2nd class) but the box is obviously for Commander (3rd class)...

According to regulations from 1939 in Kingdom of Yugoslavia cavalry, engineering and medical officers wore silver shoulder boards with golden stars while the rest used golden boards and silver star. Perhaps Romania had similar rule...

Infantry first lieutenant's epaulettes, label inside box Moritz Tiller & Co. (Мориц Тилер и Комп.) National Museum Čačak

Dragoslav Pavlović's (Драгослав Павловић) summer blouse and Royal Guard infantry uniform.

Order of the White Eagle 2nd class (Bertrand) Order of the Bath awarded to general Stevan Hadžić (Стеван Хаџић)

Order of the White Eagle 3rd class (Huguenin) awarded to Đorđe Roš (Ђорђе Рош) Article (in Serbian) about this very interesting man: http://www.novipolis.rs/sr/memento/29055/djordje-ros-heroj-medju-andjelima-.html

National Museum Čačak Order of St. Sava 2nd class (Huguenin) awarded to general Pigeaud

I forgot about those, one more pair.

Exhibition "Liberation of Belgrade 1944" Source: http://rs.sputniknews.com/serbian.ruvr.ru/2014_10_15/Vojni-muzej-u-Beogradu-izlozhba-Oslobodenje-Beograda-1944-godine-6759/?slide-1 Order of Suvorov 2nd class

Bunch of these started appearing lately. I read somewhere that they are coming from Leskovac (ring a bell?). I was very surprised with some of the amounts they were sold for, you can get them here for like 10 euros.

When you look at design and names of the Republic of Srpska decorations it's obvious some are inspired by the old, royal era orders. Others, mostly medals, are inspired by socialist era decorations, at least when it comes to names.

Glad to hear that Paul, I hope it will come in handy. I've been wanting to start a separate topic about militaria related literature. First I have to get some of the latest issues.

2nd type (without crown) awarded during Republic Day celebrated on 9 January in Republic of Srpska. I'll try to make more photos in the future.

Don't mention it Paul! This is off-topic but while we are on the subject of table medals take a look at this one. Independence Medal made by W. Pittner Photos found on ebay.

Spot on Paul! Cover and couple of pages from the book as an illustration. PS before you lay your hands on a copy of your own I'll be glad to help you with information from the book if needed.

That was the best book about royal decorations before Car&Muhić came out. Even now I still consider "Orders of the People of Yugoslavia" worth having, there are information you can't find at Car&Muhić for example about table medals. The book covers Montenegro as well. Considering that there are just a few books about Montenegrin orders this is big plus for me. Before I found an example of "Montenegrin Decorations" by Milan Jovićević it was my only source. Basic info: ПИЛЕТИЋ, Мила: Одликовања југословенских народа XIX и прве XX половине века (до 1941.) из збирке Војног музеја у Београду, Београд: Војни музеј, 1987. PILETIĆ, Mila: Decorations of the People of Yugoslavia from XIX and the First Half of XX century (until 1941) from the Collection of the Military Museum in Belgrade, Begrade: Military Museum, 1987 The book is written in Serbian language, Cyrillic alphabet with summary in English. Number of pages is 206, from page 117 onward is the catalog. Around third of the book consists of images, some in color others black&white. It's been a long time since they were sold out but from time to time used ones in decent condition appear. As for the price I payed 10 euros for mine, for that money it's definitely worth having.

Here's an example made out of zinc. Images are from an auction held a year or two ago, achieved price was 120 euros (+15% buyer's premium).