Megan Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Inspired by Paja's recent post on the FRY Medal of Philanthropy (and his kindness in giving me permission to use the images, followed by a lot more information!), I have been having a delve into the ODM of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in general. The complete set was instituted in a single law, the Law on Decorations of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 4 December 1998, a copy of which I have found online: http://www.podaci.net/_z1/3119776/Z-odliko02v9859-0121.html (in Serbian, of course). This lists all the orders, decorations and medals with the number of classes and what they were awarded for, but does not describe them. Paja tells me that there is a booklet that contains the law plus illustrations, and I think that I have found at least some of the pictures online. These are not up the the quality that I like for my website but at least give me an idea of what I am looking for! The interesting thing is that many of the names of orders are the same (or similar) to those used by communist Yugoslavia (the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to give it its full name), and from what I can make out of the images the design has not changed greatly either. The Communist Yugoslavian designs were not as overtly 'communist' as many of the Eastern Bloc ones, which helps, and it seems that in many cases the main change has been to replace the state coat-of-arms with the new one (and that often on the reverse!). I'll post what I have, with apologies for the quality, and ask that everyone look out for better pictures for me :)
Megan Posted April 28, 2012 Author Posted April 28, 2012 First up, the highest award, which is a new one: the Order of Yugoslavia (Orden Jugoslavije). It is given to Heads of State and other senior members of government. In effect it has 2 classes, as the Collar and Star are reserved for actual Heads of State, while the Sash and Star can go to any leader who may not be technically a Head of State. Collar: Badge: Star: Apologies for quality, they're from these images I think are from the booklet mentioned above.
Megan Posted April 28, 2012 Author Posted April 28, 2012 Next up, the Order of the Yugoslav Grand Star. This is awarded in a single class to Heads of State for special merit in developing and strengthening cooperation and friendly relationships between Yugoslavia and other nations. This is identical to the communist-era order of the same name, and although I only have a scruffy little picture, looks the same as well. Badge: Star: In comparision, here's a (much better!) image of the communist-era star:
Megan Posted April 28, 2012 Author Posted April 28, 2012 Then we have the Order of Freedom, which again appears to be identical in appearance and terms of award to the communist-era award of the same name, a rather spectacular beast given for military leadership at the highest level.
Megan Posted April 28, 2012 Author Posted April 28, 2012 Next comes the Order of the National Hero, an award for personal courage (in defence of the nation or when saving life) that again has survived from the communist era unchanged. Incidentally, the 1998 Law states that all awards received previously can still be worn. Here's the Order of the National Hero:
Megan Posted April 28, 2012 Author Posted April 28, 2012 This is a work in progress, there will be more to come!
Laurence Strong Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Thanks for posting these, looking forward to the sequel.
Megan Posted April 29, 2012 Author Posted April 29, 2012 Next in the order of precedence is the Order of the Yugoslav Flag (Orden Jugoslavenske zastave). It is awarded for meritorious services to the nation. Here there are both similarities to and difference from the communist-era order of the same name. To start with, it has 3 classes instead of the former order's five (although the bottom two classes were, unusually, much more rarely awarded than higher ones!). The badge of the first class has been changed, so that it looks the same as the badge of the other classes. As you probably know, it was previously flag-shaped and unenamelled - quite distinctive. The reverse of the badge has also been changed, to show the FRY coat-of-arms. First class: Second class: Third class (reverse): (Again, apologies for the image quality...)
paja Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Here's a picture of Order of Tesla 1. class awarded to Military Medical Academy (VMA).
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