Romania Kingdom of Romania: Order of Ferdinand I

[Megan]

Instituted: 10 May 1929.

Awarded: For meritorious service to the nation.

Grades: 6 (Collar, Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, Knight).

The Collar:

[Megan]

Grand Cross badge:

[Megan]

Grand Officer star

[Megan]

Knight

[Carol I]

Awarded: For meritorious service to the nation.

This is not entirely true. The Order of Ferdinand I was intended for "those who through their national activity or military deeds contributed to the union of all Romanians or those who in the future will have extraordinary merits to the country". In practice the order was awarded only to Romanian citizens who contributed to the national union. There is only one notable exception: the French General Henri Mathias Berthelot, the head of the French Military Mission to Romania during WWI, but since he became a honorary citizen of Romania after WWI maybe this is not a true exception.

[Carol I]

Instituted: 10 May 1929.

The order was closed on 18 February 1937 (but not disbanded).

[Carol I]

Wherefrom did you get the images of this order, Megan?

More images of this order have been posted by Christophe in the thread on Orders and Medals of the Mus?e National de la L?gion d'Honneur.

[Megan]

Various people sent them to me - including Ilja Repetski of this parish, and Emmanuel Halleaux, who is a Belgian collector who watches my site and sends me pictures for whatever section I am working on at the time. All are, of course, duly acknowledged on the website.

I remember Christophe's thread, the last time I looked was before I started in on Romania. Must have another look with a view to asking permission to use any I don't have pictures of at the moment. I also have a request in with the Romanian authorities concerning their wonderful images of current awards, still waiting to hear back from them.

And thank you for the corrections regarding terms of award and dates - I'll go amend that page. Could I have your real name for the acknowledgements page, please?

[Carol I]

Here is an almost complete set of insignia of the Order of Ferdinand on display in the National Military Museum a couple of years ago.

[Carol I]

And thank you for the corrections regarding terms of award and dates - I'll go amend that page.

May I add some further corrections to your Romanian section? The Order of Carol I and the Order of Ferdinand I were equally ranked, so the Order of Michael the Brave would go to the third place. As for the other orders, they moved places a lot in the 1930s and 1940s. For example, at a certain point during Carol II's reign, the Order of the Star of Romania came down to the seventh place, but following his abdication its prestige increased being ranked beneath the Order of Michael the Brave (if I remember right all the changes - I'll need to check them again). Unfortunately I do not have enough information on whether the so-called 'Carlist orders' (the orders established by Carol II as dynastic awards) were disbanded from 1940 on or simply removed from the national system of decorations.

And, if I may add here, the Order of St. George was never awarded. It was instituted in 1940 as a war order, but never awarded before Carol II's abdication since Romania was not at war during that year.

[Megan]

Thank you, dear heart - please do go on correcting wherever necessary! How else will I get it right?

[Eric Schena]

Of all the decorations in the world I have rated as my "dream" decorations, two are Romanian and this is one of them*. I was offered a knight's badge several years ago (maybe 7 or so years ago) for $750 and I could not afford it then. I have always regretted not getting it.

Thanks for sharing these pictures and the information!

Cheers,

Eric

* For what it's worth, the other two are the Order of Carol I and the royal Bulgarian Order of Sts. Cyril & Methodius

[IVB]

Hello!

Carol I, could you give full order of precedence of Royal Romanian awards for different periods?

Regards, IVB

[Carol I]

Carol I, could you give full order of precedence of Royal Romanian awards for different periods?

Hi IVB!

Here it is until 1930. For the period 1930-1947 I'll have to check some references.

1877-1906

1. Order of the Star of Romania

2. Order of the Crown of Romania

1906-1916

1. Order of Carol I

2. Order of the Star of Romania

3. Order of the Crown of Romania

1916-1927

1. Order of Carol I

2. Order of Michael the Brave

3. Order of the Star of Romania

4. Order of the Crown of Romania

5. Cross of Queen Maria Order

1927-1930

1. Order of Carol I *

2. Order of Ferdinand I *

3. Order of Michael the Brave

4. Order of Aeronautical Virtue

5. Order of the Star of Romania

6. Order of the Crown of Romania

7. Cross of Queen Maria Order

* The Order of Carol I and the Order of Ferdinand I were equally ranked.

[Carol I]

1931-1940

1. Order of Carol I

2. Order of Ferdinand I

3. Order of Michael the Brave

4. Order for Merit *

5. Order of the Ruling House *

6. Bene Merenti Order of the Ruling House *

7. Order for Faithful Service

8. Order of the Star of Romania

9. Order of the Crown of Romania

10. Order of Aeronautical Virtue

11. Cross of Queen Maria Order

12. Order for Cultural Merit

13. Order for Agricultural Merit

* These were dynastic orders included in the national system of orders in 1937.

1940

1. Order of Carol I

2. Order of Ferdinand I

3. Order of Michael the Brave

4. Order for Merit

5. Order of the Ruling House

6. Order of St. George *

7. Order for Faithful Service

8. Order of the Star of Romania

9. Order of the Crown of Romania

10. Order of Aeronautical Virtue

11. Cross of Queen Maria Order

12. Order for Cultural Merit

13. Order for Agricultural Merit

* The Order of St. George replaced the Bene Merenti Order of the Ruling House.

[Carol I]

1941-1944

1. Order of Carol I

2. Order of Ferdinand I

3. Order of Michael the Brave

4. Order of the Star of Romania

9. Order of the Crown of Romania

5. Order of Aeronautical Virtue

6. Cross of Queen Maria Order

7. Order for Cultural Merit

8. Order for Agricultural Merit

1944-1947

1. Order of Carol I

2. Order of Ferdinand I

3. Order of Michael the Brave with Swords *

4. Order of the Star of Romania

9. Order of the Crown of Romania

5. Order of Aeronautical Virtue

6. Cross of Queen Maria Order

7. Order for Cultural Merit

8. Order for Agricultural Merit

* The Order of Michael the Brave with Swords replaced the Order of Michael the Brave closed in the autumn of 1944.

[IVB]

Great! Thank you! What about medals?

Regards, IVB

[Carol I]

Sorry IVB for the delay.

Great! Thank you! What about medals?

My main interest lies in orders, so I do not have at hand the information on medals. However, here is something I could find.

1884:

Military Virtue Medal *

Order of the Star of Romania

Order of the Crown of Romania

Bene Merenti Medal

Crossing of the Danube Cross

Defenders of the Independence Medal

Faithful Service Medal

Long Service Honour Signs

* Until the appearance of the Order of Michael the Brave in 1916, the Military Virtue was the topmost war decoration.

1906:

Military Virtue Medal

Carol I Jubilee Medal

Bene Merenti Medal

Faithful Service Cross

Faithful Service Medal

... *

* It is said that the other crosses and medals are to be worn after the Faithful Service cross and medal, but without a precise ranking.

[Carol I]

To continue the evolution of the rank list of the Romanian medals and on topic in this thread, the establishment of the Medal of Ferdinand I in 1930 changed again the order of precedence as the Medal of Ferdinand I became the highest ranking medal.

Then, in 1938 the ranking of the medals for war merits was:

Cross of Honour for Merit

Cross of the Ruling House

Medal of the Ruling House

Sanitary Merit Cross

Navy Virtue Medal

Aeronautical Virtue Medal

Faithful Service Cross

Faithful Service Medal

... *

* It should be noted that the list did not include the Military Virtue Medal and the Medal for Valour and Faith.

[Carol I]

In 1941 there was another restructuring of the ranking of the war medals which brought back the two old medals overlooked in 1938.

Military Virtue Medal

Sanitary Merit Cross

Medal for Valour and Faith

Navy Virtue Medal

Aeronautical Virtue Medal

Faithful Service Cross

Faithful Service Medal

[IVB]

Thanks, man!

[Cartaphilus]

5. Order of the Ruling House *

6. Bene Merenti Order of the Ruling House *

Hello Carol. Could you tell us what were the differences between these two orders? I believe that the Order of the Ruling House was similar to the prussian Hohenzollern House Order, but I'm not sure. Where can we see pictures of these orders, or read info about their history and grades?

Greetings from Spain.

[Carol I]

Hello Carol. Could you tell us what were the differences between these two orders? I believe that the Order of the Ruling House was similar to the prussian Hohenzollern House Order, but I'm not sure. Where can we see pictures of these orders, or read info about their history and grades?

Greetings from Spain.

Yes, the Order of the Ruling House was similar in design to the Princely Hohenzollern House Order. If I remember right, the order was not established in the 1930s, but rather "taken over" by Carol II as the only sovereign ruler of the Hohenzollern houses at that time.

The photo below shows Crown Prince Mihai wearing the star of the order.

As for the Bene Merenti Order of the Ruling House, here is a photo from the Chancellery of Orders.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Carol I

[Carol I]

Yes, the Order of the Ruling House was similar in design to the Princely Hohenzollern House Order.

From the collections of the National Military Museum, insignia of the dynastic Order of the Ruling House: