Luxembourg Netherlands Order of Oranje-Nassau

[DutchBoy]

The Netherlands Order of Oranje-Nassau was instituted on 4 april 1892.

After King William III died in 1890, Luxembourg was split from the Dutch crown because a woman now became Queen of the Netherlands. With Salic law applying in Luxembourg, a distant relative of Wilhelmina, the new Dutch Queen, became the new Grand Duke of Luxembourg. The Order of the Oaken Crown, instituted for Luxembourg by King William II in 1841, was now no longer available for use in the Netherlands, so a new lower order (after the Order of the Netherlands Lion) was needed. This led to the creation of the Order of Oranje-Nassau, named after the Netherlands Royal House.

Today, it has 6 grades: Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, Knight, and Member.

[DutchBoy]

Here are my Grand Cross and Grand Officer sets of this order. The Grand Cross was awarded to a Bulgarian ambassador in the 1970s, while the Grand Officer was awarded to an unknown person in around the 1930s.

One way to date the insignia is by looking at the inscription on the reverse. It reads "God Zij Met Ons" ("May God be with us"). On earlier pieces, the word "Zij" is spelled "Zy." The switchover to the "zij" spelling occurred some time around the 1970s or so, I'm not sure of the exact year.

Edited April 8, 2007 by DutchBoy

[DutchBoy]

Close up

Edited April 8, 2007 by DutchBoy

[DutchBoy]

close up

[DutchBoy]

closer

[Jacky]

Nice Collection!

Do you have also the other grades?

The commander, officer, knight and the more modern Member-grade?

And also the medals affilated with the order, in bronze, silver and gold?

anyway, I like your collection!

Kind regards,

Jacky

[Alex K]

Beautiful pieces DutchBoy

[DutchBoy]

Thanks guys!

I don't have any of the other grades (yet), but I really want one from the military division, with swords. I'll try to make some close-ups of my pieces as well, especially showing the "zij" and "zy" variations. If anyone has a variation with swords please post it!

Thanks,

Matthijs.

[Herr General]

Very nice collection Matthijs!

[Riley1965]

Here's my Gold Honour Cross on a Bow mount.

Doc

[Riley1965]

The reverse

Doc

[DutchBoy]

Cool stuff Michael, thanks for posting! That's a nice pre 1970s one too.

[DutchBoy]

The GC sash badge and the neck badge are identical. Note the mint mark on the cross surmounting the crown.

[DutchBoy]

The reverse with the two different spelling variations mentioned above. The W monogram stands for Wilhelmina, the Queen who founded the order.

Edited April 8, 2007 by DutchBoy

[DutchBoy]

Grand Cross breast star, manufactured by the Royal Mint in Utrecht (dated to the 1970s).

[DutchBoy]

Reverse GC breast star. The Dutch silver hallmark (an upraised sword) on the pin. "Rijksmunt Utrecht."

Edited April 8, 2007 by DutchBoy

[DutchBoy]

Grand Officer breast star ca. 1930s.

[DutchBoy]

Grand Officer star reverse, manufactured by Roelof Citroen.

[DutchBoy]

Case for the Grand Cross set. Some time after WW2, there was a switch from an orange case with the full Royal Arms in gold, to a blue case with only the Royal Crown. I'm not sure when this switch occurred.

[Great Dane]

Magnificent items Matthijs, congratulation

Out of curiosity: Whenever I encounter this order for sale at various dealers the badge is mostly (always?) in silvergilt, and judging from these pictures yours seem to be silvergilt as well.

Was the badge ever awarded in real gold? And if yes, do you know when it changed?

/Mike

[DutchBoy]

Thanks Mike!

I have never heard of a solid gold version. Considering it is the 3rd highest Dutch order, a solid gold variation would seem unlikely. The badges are always gold-plated silver as far as I'm aware.

I know the lion on the front of both the badge and the star are solid gold, as is the "W" monogram and crown on the badge, and are separately attached.

Hope this helps,

Matthijs.

Magnificent items Matthijs, congratulation

Out of curiosity: Whenever I encounter this order for sale at various dealers the badge is mostly (always?) in silvergilt, and judging from these pictures yours seem to be silvergilt as well.

Was the badge ever awarded in real gold? And if yes, do you know when it changed?

/Mike

Edited April 9, 2007 by DutchBoy

[Mike Dwyer]

Matthijs,

Very beautiful. The colors of the cross is quite nice and it goes very, very well with the ribbon.

[Jacky]

I have a quick note on this one.

It wasn't Wilhelmina who created this order, but her mother, Queen-Regnant Emma.

After the order of the Oaken crown fell in disuse, as it became an order of luxemburg. Emma knew that a "commoner"-order was needed and

created the order of Orange-Nassau in name of her minor-aged daughter.

From the governmental site:

"In 1841, as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, King Willem II created the Order of the Oak Crown. Although this was not a Dutch order, honours in the Order of the Oak Crown were regularly conferred on Dutch people and foreign diplomats. After the death of King Willem III in 1891, Luxembourg became an independent state. Since then, honours in the Order of the Oak Crown can no longer be awarded by the Dutch head of state.

There was an obvious need for a new, third Dutch order, in particular to be able to confer a royal honour on foreign diplomats, but also to be able to give people from lower classes and ranks a royal pat on the back. On 4 April 1892, at the time when Queen Emma was Regent of the Kingdom, the Order of Orange-Nassau was created."

[Herr General]

Here's a Officers grade on a bar. Sorry for the dark picture.

[DutchBoy]

Herr General,

Very cool bar (WW1). A diplomat perhaps?

Jacky,

Thanks for the info.