Bulgaria Bulgaria - Order of Military Merit

[Ferdinand]

Although I mainly collect Soviet awards, I also have a couple Bulgarian Orders of Military Merit, simply because they are beautiful.

Here's a boxed 5th Class with Crown and War Decoration from the Boris III period:

[P.F.]

Great order.....these are excellent pictures, i can see every detail!

Kind regards

Pierce

[Ferdinand]

And here's a 3rd Class with Crown:

[Ferdinand]

Just wanted to show my 4th Class with Crown:

[Ferdinand]

[Ferdinand]

Close-up:

[Ferdinand]

Size comparison with the 3rd Class posted earlier:

[Valter]

These peices are really beautiful I'm adding my 5th class with crown, Feridnand period.

[Valter]

... and reverse.

[Valter]

and lastly, the box. The box is for peice without crown, but I'll keep it until I find a piece without a crown and box for crowned one.

Edited November 25, 2010 by Valter

[Tim B]

These are such beautiful awards!

I have a question on levels of this award; exactly, what is the difference between the ones with a crown and those without?

Tim

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Just like with most order of merit, the class was closely related to recipient's rank. According to Todor Petrov, the 3rd class (Commander) was awarded to colonels and lieutenant colonels, 4th class (Officer) to majors and captains, 5th class (Knight) to lieutenants and 6th class (Silver Cross) to all non-commissioned ranks. The 5th and 6th class alone could be awarded with or without crown, which not only let differentiate the level of merit, but also left a possibility of a second award when needed.

Please also note that the war ribbon could only be worn with the 4th, 5th and 6th class of the order and there was no rosette on the war ribbon on the 4th class.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Lukasz Gaszewski

[Tim B]

Thank you! :beer: