Romania Romanian Ribbon Bars

[Greg Collins]

I have a few Romanian ribbon bars, both from the RPR and RSR periods, that I thought I'd share. First off, a decidedly military bar from the RPR (1947-1965) period with the following awards (left to right, top to bottom):

Star of Romania, 5th Class

Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class (20 Years)

Order of Labour, 3rd Class

Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class (15 Years)

Liberation from the Fascist Yoke

Medal for Military Merit, Gold (10 Years)

10 Year Anniversary of the Foundation of the Army

20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

Edited June 12, 2009 by Greg Collins

[Greg Collins]

Next up, another military bar from the same (RPR) period. The odd thing about this one is the rows of three, as opposed to four which is much more common. One possible reason could be that this ribbon bar was for a female or, perhaps a man of slight build. Without documentation it will remain a mystery. Anyway, the awards shown are:

Star of Romania, 5th Class

Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class (20 Years)

Order of Labour, 3rd Class

Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class (15 Years)

Liberation from the Fascist Yoke

Medal for Military Merit, Gold (10 Years)

10 Year Anniversary of the Foundation of the Army

20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

20th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country

Edited June 12, 2009 by Greg Collins

[Greg Collins]

And last, for now, from the RSR (1965-1989) period. Back to four across. This bar is also military; I keep saying this because ribbon bars were also worn by civilian party members, and I will show some of these in the future. You'll notice here that, instead of soldered rows there is a "full closure" back- much more stable. You'll also notice that the rendering of the ribbons is not as nicely done as in the RPR period- shaky lines. The awards are:

Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class (20 Years)

Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class (15 Years)

Order of Tudor Vladimirescu, 4th Class

Star of Romania, 5th Class

50th Anniversary of the Communist Party

20th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country

25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country

30th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country from Fascist Domination

Medal for Military Merit, Gold (10 Years)

Medal for Military Merit, Silver (5 Years)

25th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic

20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

30th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

Edited June 12, 2009 by Greg Collins

[Carol I]

Next up, another military bar from the same (RPR) period. The odd thing about this one is the rows of three, as opposed to four which is much more common. One possible reason could be that this ribbon bar was for a female or, perhaps a man of slight build. Without documentation it will remain a mystery.

It could also had to do with the number of awards. 9 ribbons in rows of 4 would have looked 4-4-1, so probably they wanted to avoid the lone award on the third row (just another speculation, I know).

[Ulsterman]

Very cool.

Do you have any ideas as to who/whatrank level got what bar?

[Guest Rick Research]

Lovely ribbon bars. I suspect the first two bars belonged to the same person and Carol's right about rows.

[Kev in Deva]

And last, for now, from the RSR (1965-1989) period. Back to four across. This bar is also military; I keep saying this because ribbon bars were also worn by civilian party members, and I will show some of these in the future. You'll notice here that, instead of soldered rows there is a "full closure" back- much more stable. You'll also notice that the rendering of the ribbons is not as nicely done as in the RPR period- shaky lines. The awards are:

Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class (20 Years)

Order of Labour, 3rd Class

Order of Tudor Vladimirescu, 4th Class

Star of Romania, 5th Class

50th Anniversary of the Communist Party

20th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country

25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country

30th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country from Fascist Domination

Medal for Military Merit, Gold (10 Years)

Medal for Military Merit, Silver (5 Years)

25th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic

20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

30th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

Hallo greg,

Something out of sync, is not the second ribbon top row for:

Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class.??And with regards:-

Medal for Military Merit, Gold (10 Years)

are the medals not officially graded as I Class, 2nd Class, 3rd Class.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:Edit as per Carol I post. :D

Edited June 12, 2009 by Kev in Deva

[Carol I]

are the medals not officially graded as I Class, 2nd Class, 3rd Class.

The Military Merit Medal had only two classes - I and II - and they were indeed awarded for 10 and 5 years of service, respectively.

[Kev in Deva]

Next up, another military bar from the same (RPR) period. The odd thing about this one is the rows of three, as opposed to four which is much more common. One possible reason could be that this ribbon bar was for a female or, perhaps a man of slight build. Without documentation it will remain a mystery. Anyway, the awards shown are:

Star of Romania, 5th Class

Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class (20 Years)

Order of Labour, 3rd Class

Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class (15 Years)

Liberation from the Fascist Yoke

Medal for Military Merit, Gold (10 Years)

10 Year Anniversary of the Foundation of the Army

20th Anniversary of the Armed Forces

20th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country

I must ask, were there even females in service the Romanian Military Forces? this bar represents an officer,

and if so would it be possible for a woman to achieve such awards? as I have never seen any reference to women in either

pictures or written documents, or on gravestones which,

as they carry a picture of the deceased an invaluable reference record.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

Edited June 12, 2009 by Kev in Deva

[Greg Collins]

Kevin: you're absolutely right about the Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class and I have edited the post... "cut and paste" combined with an early hour and not enough coffee is disastrous!

Do the first two bars belong to the same person? Who really knows. Compared to other Warsaw Pact countries, Romania had relatively few awards. So to see several individuals with the same ribbon bar would be a fairly common occurrence.

Could it belong to a female? Why not? Communism really does not allow for discrimination between sexes, and we've all heard of the exploits of Soviet women in their military. I would suppose Romania would do likewise, but to be sure, I guess we'll have to hear from someone who was there as there are damn few books available on the subject.

The even number of rows is a very plausible point. Makes sense.

I believe all the bars here represent a fairly high ranking officer based on the common award in all three- the Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class- which represents 20 years of service. I would say, at least, Major.

A last note; there are no, per se, "hero" awards here. Some could have been awarded for heroism, but without documentation we can only speculate. The only thing we can easily assume is that we're looking at superior service awards.

[Kev in Deva]

Kevin: you're absolutely right about the Order of Military Merit, 3rd Class and I have edited the post... "cut and paste" combined with an early hour and not enough coffee is disastrous!

Do the first two bars belong to the same person? Who really knows. Compared to other Warsaw Pact countries, Romania had relatively few awards. So to see several individuals with the same ribbon bar would be a fairly common occurrence.

Could it belong to a female? Why not? Communism really does not allow for discrimination between sexes, and we've all heard of the exploits of Soviet women in their military. I would suppose Romania would do likewise, but to be sure, I guess we'll have to hear from someone who was there as there are damn few books available on the subject.

The even number of rows is a very plausible point. Makes sense.

I believe all the bars here represent a fairly high ranking officer based on the common award in all three- the Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class- which represents 20 years of service. I would say, at least, Major.

A last note; there are no, per se, "hero" awards here. Some <i><b>could</b></i> have been awarded for heroism, but without documentation we can only speculate. The only thing we can easily assume is that we're looking at superior service awards.

Hallo Greg,

with regards the above in bold, and I am living here since 2003, I have never come across any mention of Romanian women serving in the Military as Romanian Communist military personnel, nor have I seen any photographs to support such a theory.

There were odd cases in Romanian history of women serving in the Romanian Imperial Army but they were the exception, more than the rule.

There was a women section of the Patriotic Guard, but they would not have been entitled to such a medal bar as pictured above.

Kevin in Deva.

[Greg Collins]

OK, fair enough... must have been to even the bar rows out for more stability. I guess seeing all the women in uniform in uniform (especially the USSR) gave me the inaccurate idea that the same was true throughout the Warsaw Pact.