Updated: 27 February, 2009

Miscellaneous

Portal for researchers and collectors of Orders, Decorations and Medals awarded by British Commonwealth countries

Medals of the World Image Collection by Megan C. Robertson

The Official Almanach de Chivalry ( 2007)

Royal Ark Website This excellent website created and maintained by Christopher Buyers. Most of the countries have been relocated to the new site, though there are one or two like Pakistan, Persia and Indonesia, which still need to be transferred. At the same time, Christopher has expanded the sections on orders and decorations to include information on medals, wherever possible. The states with substantial numbers of decorations or with a well founded system of awards, now have individual pages dealing with them. Those with just one or two decorations or medals, or where information is lacking, remain on the introductory pages as before. This means that the URL addresses for all the links have changed. Here is the new URL for the Royal Ark home page.

Revived and Recently Created Orders of Chivalry Interesting information on this topic heraldica.org

• Chivalric Orders Contains a treasure of information on this topic by country   (Guy Stair Sainty)

• For Merit Medal Website (Yuri Yashnev) (In Russian - Use  online-translation service)

• Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Links to Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Websites Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre by G.S. Sainty The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Canada by V. Shaun Redmond

• Introduction to Orders of Chivalry (Paul Hieronymussen - Author of Orders, Medals and Decorations of Britain and Europe)

• Orders and decorations -  Beginning by A B C-E F-G H-I J-L M-O P-R S T-V W-Z  (Almanach Belge) (Sep 02)

• Byzantine Order of the Holy Sepulchre

• (SOCIETY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE)

•   Links to Information on The Sovereign Military Order of Malta

• The Teutonic Order today 

• Knighthood and Orders of Chivalry  (Francois Velde)

• An Introduction to Orders and Medals of The Salvation Army  (The Christian Mission Historical Association)

• Collecting Orders, Medals and Badges for Wounded and Next-of-Kin (Denmark)

•   Antiques A to Z - Orders of the World

•    Medals and Decorations of WWI

• Medals of the Great War

• Ribbon Charts All Insignia, medals etc. awarded by The Military and Hospitallier Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem are worn with ribbons in different colours. We have put together two Ribbon Charts containing all decorations awarded since 1970 by the Order itself, by its Jurisdictions and by those voluntary organizations related to the Order. (Feb 03)

• Commemorative Medals (The largest single list of Commemorative Medals in the world – MSM Awards – Dealers list, but extremely valuable to reference purposes)

• Medals of the Gulf War (My Medal Collection)

• Useful Advice to new Medal Collectors
(Andreas Schulze Ising)

• The Manufacture of Medals (Devery Sherman) (Hendrik's Medal Corner)

• (Un-Official Websites, but has a tremendous amount of information/links)

• International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Nineteen countries are providing troops to the International Security Assistance Force to assist the new Afghan Interim Authority with the provision of security and stability in Kabul.

• Ribbon Review Home Page

• WAE Military History Database Service

• Other Military Links (Dr. David D. Van Fleet)

• Medals and Military History Link Page (Mike's Links)

• Decorations - Civil and Military

• Vincent Shaun Redmond's Home Page (Orders of Chivalry)

• Morrell Family History Website (With information on the awards won by members of the family)

• Phil McCarty, in London England, is compiling an Honours and Awards Listing for the Machine Gun Corps of WWI. He would appreciate any information on this subject, and can be contacted by email

• The International Millennium Medal 2000 - Another un-official medal manufactured by the Skandinavisk Handels Kompagni in Denmark. Click here for complete details.

• 7th World Firefighters Games Commemorative Medal 2002 - Trevor Pateman, Executive Director of the World Firefighters Games Governing Body, has announced that the World Governing Body has struck a special Commemorative Medal in conjunction with the 7th World Firefighters Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, 26 October to 2 November 2002 inclusive. The Commemorative Medal will be a limited edition, with only 3,000 (three thousand) being struck. The medal has been designed to be suitable for wearing on Fire Service uniforms. Firefighters should check that their Fire Authority will permit the medals to be worn on their uniform. Medals will be awarded to the first 3,000 Firefighters to register for the 2002 games. Initial statements of interest suggest that final attendance figures should be well over 3,000 so it will be necessary to restrict eligibility for the medal to Firefighters only, this does not include spouses or support staff. (Feb 03)

• Medal Collections Home Page

• Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) Medal - This is a civilian observer mission, established by mandate in 1994, stationed in the West Bank City of Hebron. It is comprised of Danish, Italian, Norwegian, Swiss, Swedish and Turkish personnel. The TIPH has no military or police functions. TIPH (Official Website)  (Ref: Ed Emering)

• Scientology awards Tom Cruise a gold diamond encrusted “Freedom Medal of Valor” Tom Cruise may not be a “Top Gun” any more, but the actor has become the top cheerleader for the Church of Scientology  and he recently received a medal for it. Mr. Cruise was awarded the so-called “Freedom Medal of Valor” according to this month’s issue of International Scientology News. cultnews.com 29 Dec 04

• Miscellaneous - The International Volunteers Foreign Service Medal   Yet, another un-official commemorative medal (Apr 03)

• Athens Olympic medals on display Gold, (C) silver and bronze (R) Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Medals are on display in Athens. Using 13 kilos of gold, a ton of silver and a ton of bronze, 15 experts have started minting the 3,000 medals that will be awarded during the Athens Olympics in August.  The production is in a factory at Aspropyrgos, a western suburb of Athens. The plant will churn out around 3,000 medals, 986 gold, 986 silver and 1,150 bronze medals. Each medal weighs 150 grams and has a diameter of six centimetres. The medals' gold and silver comes from Switzerland while the bronze has been extracted in Greece. news.xinhuanet.com 23 Jul 04

   

• Medal designer draws from Greek history The 2004 Olympic medals, featuring Nike, the Greek goddess of victory were designed by Elana Votsi. The Olympic medal depicts Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, descending from the sky to place a laurel wreath on the winner's head. Nike stands in the middle of the old Olympic stadium, with an outline of the Parthenon in the background. On the back of the medal, Votsi depicts the Olympic flame over a line from Pindar's 8th Olympic ode, composed in 460 B.C. usatoday.com 8 Aug 04  More hellenicnews.com Aug 04

• Olympic Order awarded to athletes (Jun 01)

• Kuwaiti Minister Presents Asian Olympics Union Order of Honour to Niyazov Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti minister of energy and chairman of the Asian Olympic Union, had a meeting Thursday with President Niyazov in Ashgabat. He presented Niyazov with the Order of Honour of the Asian Olympic Union. The decision to confer the medal on Niyazov was taken during the 42^nd session of the Asian Olympic Union earlier this year in recognition of his services to promote sports activities in Turkmenistan and Asia. newscentralasia.com 16 Dec 05

• International Olympic Committee (IOC) - IOC approves new medal design for Summer Olympics For the first time in 76 years, there will be a major new design on the medals for the Summer Olympics. With the Olympics returning to their birthplace in Greece in 2004, local organizers wanted the medals to reflect ancient Greek tradition rather than images of rival Rome. The International Olympic Committee's executive board approved the Athens medal design Monday, replacing the Roman amphitheater with a Greek stadium and offering a new image of the victory goddess Nike. IOC president Jacques Rogge said the new design will apply for all future games, not just Athens. The new Summer Olympics medal design features the all-marble Panathinaiko stadium, site of the first modern games in 1896 and venue for archery and the finish line of the marathon at next year's Olympics. Since the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the front side of the medals has featured a Roman stadium, a horse-drawn chariot with a seated Nike holding a laurel wreath above her head. The only exception was in 1992, when no stadium was depicted on the medals for the Barcelona Games. There is no standard medal for winter Olympics, with host cities free to come up with their own designs. The new image of Nike -- standing, not sitting -- is based on a marble statue by the sculptor Paionios of Chalkidiki, carved in 421 BC and placed in the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. The statue was dedicated by the people of Messinia and Nafpaktos as gratitude for the victory over the Spartans at Sfacteria in 425 BC during the Peloponnesian War. The image of Nike, with outstretched wings, gives the impression she is descending from heaven to crown the victors with a wreath. By tradition, the reverse side of the medals has featured designs created by each host city. For 2004, according to IOC officials, the flip side will show the Athens logo, the Olympic flame and ancient Greek writing. San Francisco Chronicle, CA - 30 Jun 2003

  • IOC approves new medal design for Athens FOX Sports - 30 Jun 2003

  • New medal design in store for Athens Toronto Sun, Canada - 1 Jul 2003

• Bhamjee’s IOC Honour Should Make Us All Proud Ismail Bhamjee, the honorary Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, became the first sports administrator in the world to receive the prestigious International Olympic Committee (IOC) Order of Merit award. The only other recipient of the honour is former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1994 in recognition for his anti-apartheid struggle. The fact that the IOC award has been bestowed on a Motswana should make us all proud. It confirms Bhamjee’s status as one of the leading sports administrators in the world. mmegi.bw 16 Jan 06

• Olympics The Olympic gold medal, left, and the Paralympic gold medal, right, are shown during an unveiling ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. The ceremony was held to show off the medals that will be presented to athletes who win either a gold, silver or bronze medal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics.   news.yahoo.com 15 Oct 09

• Red Cross and Red Crescent Society Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal, for humanitarian service in any capacity by members of Red Cross / Red Crescent and Military Medical Services world-wide, according to statues. Further information will soon be available on this website, Red Cross websites and publications. redcrossmedal.com

• Meddling with Success Olympic Medals are Missing some Metal A gold, silver or bronze washer on a string. Since when do Olympic medals have holes in the middle? Has Krispy Kreme taken over the medal-minting franchise? Aha! It was designed by committee. Looks like it. fredericksburg.com 24 Feb 06

• The Rant Winter Olympics officials in Turin recently unveiled the design of the medals that will be handed out in February. Since you may have missed it, here's a list of things that those medals most closely resemble. sportsillustrated.cnn.com 6 Dec 05 Turin medals have hole in the middle The new medal design for the Olympics in Turin features a hole in the center of the metal disc. While it may appear as though biathletes have been using them for target practice, the medals are actually meant to represent the open space of an Italian piazza, or city square. The medals have the Turin logo on one side and images from various sports and disciplines on the other. The red silk ribbon that goes around the winner's neck is looped through the hole in the center. Eight people collaborate in the 10-hour process to make each medal. Some 1,026 medals will be made for the Olympics, plus 648 Paralympics medals and 35,000 commemorative medals. The Turin Games run from Feb. 10 to Feb 26. sify.com 1 Dec 05

• Copper Medal Coming for Olympics? It could be gold, silver, bronze and copper if the IOC moves ahead with a proposal at its meetings in Seoul to add a fourth medal to podium of the Olympic Games. Sources tell Around the Rings that the new medal, proposed to be made of copper, could be added as soon as Beijing. The new medal is being advocated by the Association of Small Olympic Committees (ASOC) as a way to expand the recognition of athletes from outside the circle of powerful sports nations such as the U.S., Australia and Germany that regularly finish atop the medals table. aroundtherings.com 1 Apr 06

  Decorations - List of decorations awarded to individuals listed in Who's Who from East Europe (Sep 02)

• Unknown Medal - I've asked if any can identify this medal. Please email me with any information.

• Titanic Historical Society Medals - Medals were struck on behalf of Margaret (Molly) Brown to thank Captain Rostron, the ships officers and crew for their bravery and hospitality shown to Titanic's survivors. Gold was struck for the Captain and officers. Bronze was given to Carpathia's crew. The Titanic Historical Society had the same company make a re-strike some years ago in three color metals; gold, silver and bronze. These colors were used to name the three levels of membership that we established. Unfortunately the masters were destroyed and these medals are no longer available.

• Masonic - I have been advised that this is a 32nd Degree Masonic Medal.

• International Paralympic Table Tennis Images of medals from major championships (Regional and World Championships, World Team Cup and Paralympic Games). Dec 03

• Red Cross Medals of the World The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies This is the ultimate website for information on Red Cross medals related to the 178 member National Societies. Jun 05

• Foe gets Caf honour (BBC) The Confederation of African will award its highest honour to late Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe. Foe, who collapsed and died during a Fifa Confederations Cup game against Colombia in the French city of Lyon, will receive the Caf Order of Merit in gold, in recognition of his contribution to the growth of African football. There are two other notable personalities included in the Caf honours lists - late Nigeria midfielder Muda Lawal, who played in five Nations Cup finals between 1976 and 1984 and former Egypt manager Mahmoud El Gohary, who led his country to the Nations Cup title in 1998. Both will be given Caf’s Order of Merit in silver. camfoot.com 27 Oct 03

• Diplomatic Society of St Gabriel Diplomatic Order of the Knights of Saint Gabriel The Diplomatic Society of Saint Gabriel founded the "Diplomatic Order of the Knights of Saint Gabriel" on 29 September 1996 in the United Nations Headquarters, New York City. The order was founded as a professional fellowship among diplomats, consuls, international civil servants and other international relations professionals in line with the principles and ethos of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights (IACK). Its founding members hailed from Colombia, Mozambique, Slovakia, the Philippines and the United States.With additional members representing or resident in Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Dominican  Republic,  El Salvador, Jamaica,Nicaragua, Malta , Marshall Islands, Peru, Portugal, Seychelles, Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Turkey,  and several other nations. The Knights of St. Gabriel is also a member of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights  who associated  organizations have over three million members. A number in excess of 30 of the UN member nations. IACK members span the world united  in a common faith and consider each other as brothers. IACK member organizations exist in Austria, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand ,Mexico, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Nigeria, Gambia, Pakistan, South Africa, U.S.A.  and the United Kingdom. The DSG welcomes Catholic diplomats and international relations professionals from all nations. Gentleman members are known as Knights of Saint Gabriel, while lady members are organized in a parallel manner as Dames of St. Gabriel. The youth wing of the society are composed of Squires of St. Gabriel.  The Knights of St. Gabriel, a fraternal organization, promotes the advancement of the diplomatic profession, spiritual development and brotherly fellowship. It also seeks to be a catalyst for furthering the humanitarian work of the international community, of the Church, the United Nations, sttes and civil society.

• Leaders in Uniform - Most societies generally respect those who have served in the military. In many poor countries the military is seen as the best sector of society, and above the corruption and scandal that may plague civilian politics. In more developed countries, military leaders are seen as personifying a dignified elite, possessing qualities of honesty, discipline, and integrity which may be sorely lacking in the mainstream population. In both cases soldiers are generally admired for their patriotism and dedication to the protection and service of the nation. Over the years, many Heads of State have chosen to appear in uniform in order to project an image of being connected with the respectability and honor of the military. The following pages are my attempts at charting this interesting fashion phenomenon.