New Polish Military Order

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

I am pleased to announce that Poland has a new military order.

Yesterday, on the Independence Day of November 11, President of the Republic awarded first six individuals with the newly established Order of the Military Cross.

The order, established on October 18, is intended to recognize outstanding military leadership or acts of valor during non-wartime operations and missions of the Polish Armed Forces outside the borders of the Polish Republic or counteracting terrorist attacks. The name refers to the Order Virtuti Militari, as it was called in the era of the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-15). The order is conferred in three classes: GC (neck decoration w. star), Commander and Knight. GC can be awarded to a unit commander for outstanding leadership or initiative combined with efficient commanding a military operation or action. Commander Cross - to a unit commander or another commissioned officer for meritorious leadership or deed, resulting in a successfully performed military operation or action, or to any officer, NCO or private who has been previously awarded the Knight Cross for an act of combat valor at a risk of life; in exceptional circumstances this class can be conferred to a staff officer for collaboration with the commander if the collaboration resulted in a success of the operation or action. Knight Cross - to any officer, NCO or private for an act of combat valor at a risk of life; this class can be conferred to a civilian or to a military unit. Soldiers of the unit awarded with the Knight Cross are authorized to wear a fourragere in the colors of the order's ribbon. Please note that it is the first fourragere in the Polish medallic history ever!

In the future the reccommendations will be approved by a chapter of six, selected from recipients of the order.

The initial idea to extend the highly respected Polish Order Virtuti Militari to be awarded for peacetime operations as well (as it is the case with the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Honor) faced strong disapproval from both WWII veterans and the order's chapter, which seemed to reflect general reluctance to Polish military presence in Afghanistan and particularly in Iraq. Hence the idea of an entirely new award.

The President awarded five soldiers on the mission in Iraq with the 3rd class of the order, including one posthumous award to a soldier who had been killed as a result of a mine blow a day earlier. The only 2nd class went to MG Bronislaw Kwiatkowski, currently commanding the Multinational Division Central-South in Iraq.

Enclosed are the drawings of the order's badges. I don't have any photo of the order at the moment. I will post it as soon as I have any availiable.

More here: http://www.medals.lava.pl/pl/pl4a.htm#omc

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Two other pictures:

[peter monahan]

Two other pictures:

What a lovely looking order! Congratulations to all Poles for having a government who still realizes the importance of such symbols.

Peter

[Hendrik]

Hello Lukasz !

Nice presentation of this new award - many thanks for posting it and good to see you on this forum

Hendrik

[Riley1965]

As one who Considers Prof. Wesoloski a mentor, I am very interested in this new award. Thank You for sharing this information!!!

Doc

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Here are the photos of the actual Order of the Military Cross. Probably the first photos of this order ever. Enjoy!

[Mike Dwyer]

Truly beautiful. One of the most beautiful modern orders I've ever seen.

[Riley1965]

Truly beautiful. One of the most beautiful modern orders I've ever seen.

I agree 100% STUNNING!!!

Doc

[DutchBoy]

Well done!! A new order to be proud of and another very nice looking Polish one! And with the careful awarding criteria the Poles have, this order will remain a highly sought-after and well-earned award.

[Jacky]

Nice looking order...

However I'm wondering why the crown is added to this order??

As Poland is a republic now, communists having decided to ban every sign of the former kingdom.....

Thus the crown doesn't make any sense to me ....

Could anyone explain this or is it just a fancy addition??

Kind regards,

Jacky

[Mike Dwyer]

Nice looking order...

However I'm wondering why the crown is added to this order??

As Poland is a republic now, communists having decided to ban every sign of the former kingdom.....

Thus the crown doesn't make any sense to me ....

Could anyone explain this or is it just a fancy addition??

Kind regards,

Jacky

Crowns are still used in the heraldry of both France and Germany, and they're republics. The crown is a sign of sovereignty, not always of royalty. In the case of a republic, it's a symbol of the people's sovereignty.

[JimZ]

I must say that at first glance these new awards remind me of the Iron Cross 2nd class and the Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross save for the eagle and the crown of course.....although the crown and the oakleaves..... Well a black cross framed in Silver can hardly make me think of anything else and I admit I find that very ironic when one considers what Poland was up against in WW2 as well as after the war when forming part of the Warsaw pact.

Was there any older Polish ODM of similar design from which inspired the design of this particular award? As in the case of the Russian Glory which now under the Russian Federation has gone back to looking like the St. George Cross.....

I mean, lets be honest... One I hardly fault the design of the EK or anything that looks remotely like it as it is one of my fave medals as far as design goes ..... but still very curious to know where the design came from.

Jim

[Jacky]

That's exactly the point I meant to say....

Where does the crown come from????

is there an ancestor of this order with almost the same design??

Kind regards,

Jacky

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gents

nice looking order, is the cross actually black or is it a dark ruby red colour, seeing as red has been seen in previous Polish awards, and part of the National colours.

Kevin in Deva.

[DutchBoy]

I think this new order is somewhat inspired by Poland's other military order, the Virtuti Militari (which was initially called the name of this new order I believe). The similaritiesrun deeper when you consider that this new order is essentially the peace-time version of the Virtuti Militari.

As for the crown, several former communist states have reverted to using old royal symbology in their coat of arms (e.g. Russia, Romania, Bulgaria) and also on their orders and medals. It may be a little strange using royal symbols in a republic, especially to us living in countries with a monarchic system of government, but crowns are a potent symbol of sovereignty and convey a sense of history.

[Carol I]

However I'm wondering why the crown is added to this order??

As Poland is a republic now, communists having decided to ban every sign of the former kingdom.....

Thus the crown doesn't make any sense to me ....

Could anyone explain this or is it just a fancy addition??

As far as I know the Poles were not afraid to use the crown during the republican times. As an example, their coat-of-arms has a crowned eagle.

[Carol I]

As for the crown, several former communist states have reverted to using old royal symbology in their coat of arms (e.g. Russia, Romania, Bulgaria) and also on their orders and medals. It may be a little strange using royal symbols in a republic, especially to us living in countries with a monarchic system of government, but crowns are a potent symbol of sovereignty and convey a sense of history.

Romania has not returned to the use of the crown as a sovereignty symbol, even though its Steel Crown has multiple symbol values.

[DutchBoy]

I stand corrected. I thought the coat of arms still had the crown, but it indeed doesn't. Thanks.

Romania has not returned to the use of the crown as a sovereignty symbol, even though its Steel Crown has multiple symbol values.

[Dave Danner]

I am pleased to announce that Poland has a new military order.

Yesterday, on the Independence Day of November 11, President of the Republic awarded first six individuals with the newly established Order of the Military Cross.

***

The President awarded five soldiers on the mission in Iraq with the 3rd class of the order, including one posthumous award to a soldier who had been killed as a result of a mine blow a day earlier. The only 2nd class went to MG Bronislaw Kwiatkowski, currently commanding the Multinational Division Central-South in Iraq.

***

Just to add to this, there weren't six awards. There were nine. Three recipients of the Knight's Cross were anonymous. They are members of GROM (Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno Manewrowego), Poland's special operations unit, so there names were kept secret for personnel security reasons.

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

I am glad there has been so much response And here's some clarification regarding the order. First, it may not be clearly seen on the photos, but the enamel is actually very dark blue, not black. And although the order is indeed much inspired by the Virtuti Militari, much effort has been put to make the insignia as unique as possible, without any earlier ancestors. Also it is probably the only order in the world with the commander class in silver instead of gold.

As for the crown, it has rightly been said here, it is the symbol of sovereignity rather than royalty. The one surmounting the cross is the crown of King Boleslaus the Valiant (Chrobry), the first crowned ruler of Poland. His crowned effigy can be found on one of Polish banknotes.

Lukasz

[Dave Danner]

Something of an aside, but crowns and republics:

Bulgaria:

Montenegro:

Serbia:

Russia:

Georgia:

[Dave Danner]

Also, for that matter:

Austria - the eagle wears a mural crown, which is considered a symbol of civil rather than royal authority, but is still a crown:

Czech Republic:

Hungary:

[Dave Danner]

And while we're at it:

Bavaria:

Berlin:

Hessen:

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:

Rheinland-Pfalz:

Saarland:

Sachsen:

Sachsen-Anhalt:

Th?ringen:

[Daniel Murphy]

I agree 100% STUNNING!!!

Indeed! That is very beautiful and the highest quality modern order I have seen. When most of the modern world keeps cranking out some very mediocre pieces (including the US), the Poles have come up with a class act.

Dan

Edited December 12, 2006 by Daniel Murphy