Bronze Star ... design stolen?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Look familiar ?

[ostprussenmann_new]

What counties award is this one? Honestly the the US could have stolen the design from another country. The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor.

[Archer]

Italian Partisan's Star - presumably modelled on the US Bronze Star.

Pity about the drawing pins

Edited October 12, 2011 by Archer

[Gunner 1]

ostprussenmann wrote: "The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor."

You have to be kidding. The only similarity between the two awards is the five-armed star, which is also found in the Belgian Order of the Crown, the Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross and other foreign orders. Other than that there is nothing else in the design that is similar! That is like saying that the Legion of Honor and the Belgian Order of Leopold are almost exact copies of each other because they both have oak and laurel wreaths between the arms of the cross. Gunner 1

[ostprussenmann_new]

ostprussenmann wrote: "The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor."

You have to be kidding. The only similarity between the two awards is the five-armed star, which is also found in the Belgian Order of the Crown, the Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross and other foreign orders. Other than that there is nothing else in the design that is similar! That is like saying that the Legion of Honor and the Belgian Order of Leopold are almost exact copies of each other because they both have oak and laurel wreaths between the arms of the cross. Gunner 1

He there high speed, make sure you know your history before you make a rude comment as you have. Either that or don't take my comment as literally as you have taken it; all I was saying is there is a concidence as there are with the BSM and above medal.

"The resemblance is no coincidence. When U.S. Army Colonel Robert T. Heard created the original design for the Legion of Merit in 1940, he based it on the French medal because the new award was to recognize foreign military officers—just as the Legion of Honor had been awarded to so many American servicemen in World War I. The badge of both decorations is based on a five-armed enameled cross, each arm having two points tipped with a ball."

Yes, I read this as well- "Despite its physical similarity to the Legion of Merit, the French Legion of Honor is a significantly different decoration."

Here is the link for reference: http://www.historyne...on-of-honor.htm

Edited October 12, 2011 by ostprussenmann

[Gunner 1]

ostprussenmann: I did not intend my post to be rude, but rather meant to indicate my amazement with your comment. If you had indicated that the arms of the two crosses were similar, I would have agreed with you (and even mentioned it in my post), but you said that "The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor." That is a completely different statement and indicates much more than that the arms of the cross are similar or that Colonel Heard based his design on the Legion of Honor. No offense meant, Gunner 1

[Kev in Deva]

Now I wonder what could have influenced this design.

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The rear.

Kevin in Deva. :P

[ostprussenmann_new]

ostprussenmann: I did not intend my post to be rude, but rather meant to indicate my amazement with your comment. If you had indicated that the arms of the two crosses were similar, I would have agreed with you (and even mentioned it in my post), but you said that "The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor." That is a completely different statement and indicates much more than that the arms of the cross are similar or that Colonel Heard based his design on the Legion of Honor. No offense meant, Gunner 1

Consider the issue over.