Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium

Belgium has established numerous orders of knighthood, decorations and medals since its creation in 1830. Below is a list of those awards. The order of precedence is difficult to establish as Belgium does not keep an up-to-date listing with dormant and active awards. However, André Borné has established such a list that is used as a basis.

National orders

Orders displayed on a white background are active; those on a grey background are dormant or no longer awarded.

Order of Leopold	Order of the African Star	Royal Order of the Lion	Order of the Crown	Order of Leopold II

Current awards and decorations

Military awards

Military decoration for exceptional service or acts of bravery or extraordinary devotion	Military Cross	Military Decoration for faithful service	Cross of honour for service abroad	Commemorative medal for armed humanitarian operations	Commemorative medal for foreign missions or operations	Commemorative medal for missions or operations regarding the operational defense of the territory	Meritorious service medal

Civilian awards

Civil Decoration for acts of bravery, selfsacrifice and philanthropy	Carnegie hero fund medal	Civil Decoration for long service	Labour decoration	Laureate of labour

Military marching medals

Commemorative medal for the European remembrance and friendship march	Commemorative medal 'Yser march'

Historical awards and decorations

These medals and decorations are currently no longer awarded.

Belgian Revolution (1830–31)

Merit medal of the civil guard	1830 Star of honour	Iron cross and iron medal	1830 volunteers commemorative cross

World War I (1914–1918)

Medals are shown in order of precedence.

War cross '14-'18	Yser medal	Fire cross	Maritime decoration of the War	Civil decoration of the War	King Albert medal	Queen Elisabeth medal	Volunteer combatant medal

Victory medal '14-'18	Commemorative medal of the War '14-'18	Commemorative medal of the African campaigns '14-'17	Medal of the political prisoner '14-'18	Deportees cross '14-'18	Colonial commemorative medal	Medal of the national committee for aid and nourishment	Medal for the national restoration	Liège Medal

World War II (1940–1945) and the Korean War (1954)

Medals are shown in order of precedence.

War cross '40-'45	Armed resistance medal	Political prisoner's cross '40-'45	Civil decoration '40-'45	Escaper's cross	Medal of Belgian gratitude '40–'45	Medal of the war volunteer '40-'45	Commemorative medal of the war '40-'45	Foreign operational theatres commemorative medal

Prisoner of war medal '40-'45	Maritime medal	Commemorative medal of the Ethiopian campaign '40-'41	African war medal '40-'45	Civilian resistance medal	Civilian disobedience medal	Colonial war effort medal '40–'45	Military combatant medal '40-'45	Medal for resistance against nazism in the annexed territories	World War II Recruiting centres medal

Other medals and awards

Awards and medals listed below are either obsolete or have never been awarded.

War cross	The service star	The meritorious service medal for native chiefs	The royal household medal	The native service medal	The Arab campaign medal

The medal for sports merit	The medal for family merit	The medal for agricultural and artisanal merit	The medal for services rendered

Commemorative medals

Commemorative medal of the visit to Brazil	Commemorative medal 1870-1871	Commemorative medal of the 100 anniversary of the national independence	Commemorative Decoration of the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the railroads	Commemorative medal of the reign of King Leopold I	Commemorative medal of the reign of King Leopold II	Commemorative medal of the reign of King Albert I	Commemorative decoration for the 50th anniversary of the Ostend-Dover Line	Commemorative medal of the VIIth olympics

Commemorative medal for the 75th anniversary of the telegraph service	Commemorative medal for the 100th anniversary of the telegraph service	Commemorative medal for the 75th anniversary of the Belgian postal services	Commemorative medal for the 100th anniversary of the Belgian postal services	Commemorative medal for Congo	Commemorative cross of the House of King Albert	Commemorative decoration for the 50th anniversary of the Royal donation fund	Medal for the 50th anniversary of Belgian Congo

Belgian Red Cross

Order of the Belgian red cross	Blood donor's medal	Cross of honour of the Belgian red cross '40-'45	Red cross decoration '40-'45	Commemorative medal 22 March Red Cross Flemish Brabant

See also

• List of honours of Belgium awarded to heads of state and royalty

References

• Quinot H., 1950, Recueil illustré des décorations belges et congolaises, 4e Edition. (Hasselt)
• Cornet R., 1982, Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges. 2e Ed. N.pl., (Brussels)
• Borné A.C., 1985, Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830–1985 (Brussels)
• Van Hoorebeke, 2007, P., 175 Ans de l'Ordre de Léopold et les Ordres Nationaux Belges (MRA Brussels)
• André Borné, 1982, Honneur au travail: Distinctions honorifiques pour les travailleurs 1830–1980, (Brussels)

Further reading

• Clark, Samuel (2016). Distributing Status: The Evolution of State Honours in Western Europe. Montreal: McGill-Queen's university press. ISBN 9780773546844.

External links

• page on diplomatie.belgium.be
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