Who designs everything?

[Egyptian Zogist]

Hello everyone!

I was browsing through the forum, and came upon a thread about some of the medals from Prince William zu Wied's six month reign over Albania, and someone mentioned that the Prince spent a lot of time designing medals and uniforms himself. I remembered reading somewhere that Emperor Augustine de Iturbide of Mexico had also taken part in designing some of the uniforms and regalia of his court. King Henri of Haiti had a full fledged Versailles-eque court complete with heralds and a College of Arms. More recently, and more colorfully, "Emperor" Bokassa of Central Africa had a grand coronation, with Napoleonic uniforms, carriages and miltaria.

So I was wondering, in self-proclaimed or otherwise "new" countries, who designs everything? The medals, orders, uniforms, flags, etc? The chamberlains and protocol department? European "experts"? Sort of like free-lance web page designers lol? 

Just a random thought.

[Alex K]

Hi, I believe that a lot of foreign awards are based on "Standard" patterns and adjusted to reflect that countries social, religious or political leanings, you will find similarities in many orders from different countries which bear a striking resemblance to each other, this is normally done by medal manufacturers, sort of "one size fits all" scenario. Spink and Son of London I believe have a similar approach, and they have produced awards for many countries, not just British ones. Of course there are the despots who spend more time designing gongs and uniforms more than running the country but they tend to be short lived. Idi Amin, was a soldier in the British army and became defacto dictator of Uganda, his uniform and medals were based on British patterns, he even designed his own "Victoria Cross" but had I believe his own face on the obverse! can't confirm who made it

 

see more here

 

regards

Edited December 27, 2015 by Alex K

[peter monahan]

Yes, modern dictators have a gruesome record of medal design, including but not restricted to Idi 'Dada' Amin's VC.  Yes, it di have his fat phiz on the front!  Uniforms, at least personal ones, are also a pre-occupation of leaders - see photos of the late unlamented leader of Libya for some awful examples.

In an earlier period, Victoria's husband Albert got his lick in and designed a shako with peaks at front and rear, which was universely loathed by the troops, but most European armies had design committees - of senior soldiers - and then departments who created the sealed patterns from which unifroms and badges were actually produced.  Orders and medals, however, have always been at least approved of by the head of state in most nations as they represent the official heraldry of the state.  In many places I suspect this is one of many jobs they do, more or less automatically, but for those who have/had an interest its a small way to put one's mark on the nation.  And who will tell the King/Queen/beloved leader that she or he has no taste at al?