Russian Federation Change to Honorary Titles' design?

[TacHel]

The only Honorary Titles of the Russian Federation worn on the small 4 corner mount with tri-colour ribbon that I know of are:

-Hero of the Russian Federation

-Pilot Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation

-Honoured Military Pilot of the Russian Federation

-Honoured Military Navigator of the Russian Federation

All other "honorary titles" (and there are many!) being represented by a similar rather plain looking uni-colour breast badge except for the actual title name inscription. (See pic below-left)

I've been spending a lot of time lately going over Russian ODM auction sites and keep coming across honorary titles all mounted on the tri-colour ribbon like the four previously mentioned (see pic below-right), but the official Russian Federation web site still shows ONLY the plain badges. Mind you, they aren't the fastest at web site updates!! To date, I have found 6 such different items.

My question is: are these actual new approved designs for wear or are they rejected prototypes?

HONOURED TEST NAVIGATOR OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

Badge at left is the approved version on the official RF web site. Badge at left is a mystery.

Can ANYBODY shed some light on this subject?

Edited December 5, 2009 by TacHel

[Gaffken]

Frank,

I don't have a definitive answer for your question, but I can say that I've made the same observation that you have, in that the use of the tri-color ribbon seems to be spreading. I can't recall exactly, but I noticed this happening with increasing frequency maybe 4-5 yrs ago in photos of new award recipients (probably from Chechnya, etc), as the brightly colored ribbons really seemed to jump out in the photos. Realize this isn't too much help to you, but thought the timeframe might help your researching...

[TacHel]

The tri colour ribbon has been used to excess by non governmental organizations, especially since the new state regulations forbid them from using colours similar to governmental awards. Also, many ministerial and departmental awards for service in the Caucasus that were replaced by the cross almost all hanged from that ribbon.

But in this case, we're talking about wearing what is one of the highest honours in the country, you'd think fiddling with the design would be a major nono... Or that at the very least, the official web site would mention this should it now be allowed.