How to read ribbon bar on photo

[Deruelle]

Hi all,

Here is photo of ribbon bar from a Saxon officer. For the moment, I show only the ribbon bar.

From left to right :

SH3 (St Henry), SV3X (a or b) (Saxe Merit Order), SA3X (a or b) (Saxe Albert Order), EK2, HHO3X (Hohenzollern knight cross with X) or RAO4X (Red Eagle Order with X) or KO4X (Crown Order with X) and SMK (Saxe Meiningen Cross)

Have a look

Christophe

Edited September 23, 2010 by Deruelle

[Deruelle]

Now have a look at the whole photo :

Our man is a Saxon General (his name General Hammer).

It is possible for a General to wear such order in his ribbon bar. Perhaps if only he served during the Franco-Prussia's war. And this is not the case. So which order did he wear ?

[Deruelle]

General Hammer has chosen to wear the ribbon for his neck order to his ribbon bar.

Indeed, he received the SH3 but he's got the SH2b and SH2a too. The second ribbon is for the SAxon Merit Order commander cross with X, the third ribbon is for the Saxon Albert Order commander cross with X, the fourth is still the EK2, the fifth ribbon is for the Red Eagle order cross 2nd class with X and the last ribbon is the Saxe Meiningen Cross.

So with a single photo, without seeing the officer, there is a lot of possibility to read the ribbon bar.

Here is a photo of Hammer with all his neck awards

Christophe

[Paul C]

Good thread. Although there were rules on what and how to wear ribbons and decorations, the rules were often broken. This is one of the reasons it can be very hard to trace a ribbon bar or medal bar back to the original owner.

[webr55]

Very nice find - and very good point!

[VtwinVince]

Nice photos, I like the last one, where he is a 'real' Saxon and wears the PLM way down the line.

[medalnet]

Saxony allowed to wear the lower grades of an order together with the higher grades. I would be positive that the bar represents the knights badges he was awarded with initially.

[Deruelle]

Hammer received the SV3 on 1910 and the SA3 on 1905, both without swords. He received the SA2 on 1913

During the war, he received the SV2X on 1915 and t he SA2aX on 1917.

Christophe

[medalnet]

Hammer received the SV3 on 1910 and the SA3 on 1905, both without swords. He received the SA2 on 1913

During the war, he received the SV2X on 1915 and t he SA2aX on 1917.

Christophe

...in that case vanity prevails :whistle: