Order of Leopold II

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The Order of Leopold II is an

• Grand Cross, who wears the badge on a sash on the right shoulder, plus a plaque on the left chest;
• Grand Officer, who wears only a plaque on the left chest;
• Commander, who wears the badge on a necklet;
• Officer, who wears the badge on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest;
• Knight, who wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
• Gold Medal, who wears the medal on the left chest;
• Silver Medal, who wears the medal on the left chest;
• Bronze Medal, who wears the medal on the left chest.

Insignia

• The badge of the Order is a metal
  Eendracht maakt macht
  ). The badge is topped by a crown of the same metal. Up to the inclusion of the Order of Leoplold II in the Belgian National Orders, the central disk showed an enamelled blue, black and white coat of arms of the Congo Free State and the motto Travail et Progrès.
• The plaque for Grand Cross is a faceted silver five-pointed star with golden rays between the branches of the star. The centre shows the obverse of a commander's cross. The plaque for Grand Officer is a faceted five-armed 'Maltese Asterisk' (see
  Maltese Cross
  ), with golden rays between the arms. The centre shows the obverse of an officer's cross.
• The medal shows the shape of the Order badge imprinted in a metal shape that is vaguely octagonal and looks like a closed florian cross. The metal of the Medal is gold for the gold medal, Silver for the silver medal and Bronze for the bronze medal.
• The ribbon of the Order is blue with a central black stripe. However, if the Order is awarded in special circumstances, the ribbon of the Officer and Knight classes show the following variations:
  • Crossed swords are added to the ribbon when awarded in wartime (if the Order was awarded during the
    Second World War or during the Korean War
    , a small bar is added to the ribbon mentioning the name of the war);
  • The ribbon has a vertical gold border on both sides when awarded for a special act of valour;
  • The ribbon has a central vertical gold stripe in the middle of the black stripe when awarded for an exceptionally meritorious act;
  • A gold star is added to the ribbon when the recipient has been
    mentioned in despatches
    at the national level;
  • Silver or gold palms are added to the ribbon when awarded in wartime to military personnel.

Stars and borders or stripes can be awarded together, but these deviations are currently only rarely awarded.

Originally, the central stripe of the ribbon was white, as blue and white were the colours of the Congo Free State.

The

ribbon bar

of the order, which is worn on the semi-formal dress uniform is:

Ribbon bars
Grand Cross	Grand Officer	Commander	Officer	Knight
	Gold Medal	Silver Medal	Bronze Medal

Despite the fact that, contrary to the Order of Leopold, no maritime or military divisions of the Order of Leopold II exist, some unofficial decorations with crossed anchors or crossed swords under the suspension crown are known to exist.

Award conditions

Current award conditions of Belgian national orders

National Orders are awarded by Royal Decree at fixed dates: 8 April (

The Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs, currently the

For the award of National Orders for persons to which no regulation apply or has been adopted, the number of awards is limited every year by decision of the Council of Ministers (contingent).

The classes of the National Orders are integrated in a combined hierarchy defined by law, whereby within one class the Order of Leopold is senior to the Order of the Crown, which is senior to the Order of Leopold II. One cannot be awarded a National Order at a level below the highest that the recipient has already received.

People who are the subject of criminal proceedings will usually not be awarded a National Order until they are declared not guilty.

Award conditions to military personnel

The Order of Leopold II is mostly awarded to military personnel on the basis of their length of service, although exceptions to that rule exist where the order is presented to military personnel for exceptional or meritorious service. (e.g. awards to officers or non-commissioned officers for devoted service to His Majesy the King). When officers are considered for the award based on their length of service, their years of service in a non-officer's rank count for half. The first twelve years of service as a member of the flying personnel counts double.

• Grand Officer: Awarded at the time of retirement to a major-general having a minimum of 40 years of meritorious service;
• Commander: Awarded after 30 years of meritorious service to a
  field officers with minimum rank of lieutenant-colonel
  having a minimum of 30 years of meritorious service;
• Officer: Awarded after 22 years of meritorious service to a
  commissioned officers with minimum rank of captain
  having between 20 and 25 years of meritorious service;
• Knight: Awarded after 13 years of meritorious service to a
  commissioned officer member of the flying personnel, after 30 years of meritorious service for a non-commissioned officer (13 years for non-commissioned officers member of the flying personnel), and after 40 years of service for a private or corporal
  ;
• Gold Medal: Awarded after 20 years of meritorious service to a non-commissioned officer (9 years for non-commissioned officers member of the flying personnel), and after 25 years of service for a private or corporal;
• Silver Medal: Awarded after 20 years of meritorious service for a private or corporal.

For awards to military personnel, there is no minimum age requirement.

For

The Order of Leopold II is also sometimes awarded to military personnel not meeting the conditions above when they have performed especially meritorious services to the King that do not deserve a special award of the Order of Leopold. This is in particular the case for commissioned officers who have been adjutant to the King or Crown Prince (usually a part-time position for a few especially selected Major), who are usually awarded the Order at the rank of commander.

Award conditions for long civilian service

The Knight's Cross of the Order of Leopold II is awarded to the presidents, secretaries and members of the board of directors of the largest representative trade organisations such as

The Knight's Cross of the Order of Leopold II is also awarded, after a tenure of 10 years, to the members of the provincial committees for the promotion of labour who have reached the age of 42.

See also

• Grand Masters : Leopold II - Albert I - Leopold III - Baudouin - Albert II - Philippe
• Order of Leopold
• Order of the African Star
• Royal Order of the Lion
• Order of the Crown
• List of civil awards and decorations
• List of Belgian military decorations
• Category:Recipients of the Order of Leopold II

References

• Royal Decree of 24 August 1900 Creating the Order of Leopold II
• Law of 1 May 2006 on the Award of Honours in the National Orders (Moniteur Belge of 24 October 2006)
• Royal Decree of 13 October 2006 Defining the Rules and Procedure for the Award of Honours in the National Orders (Moniteur Belge of 24 October 2006)
• Royal Decree of 24 January 1994 Creating the Insignia of Two Crossed Swords topped by a Bar Showing the Mention Korea
• Royal Decree of 18 April 1983 Creating the Insignia of Two Crossed Swords topped by a Bar Showing the Millesimes 40-45
• Royal Decree of 24 June 1919 Creating gold borders, gold stripes and gold stars for the National Orders Awarded in War Time (Moniteur Belge of 11–12 August 1919)
• Royal Decree of 15 November 1915 Creating Palms for the National Orders Awarded in War Time (Moniteur Belge of 28–30 November and 1–4 December 1915)
• Belgian military regulation A83 on Military Decorations
• Belgian military regulation DGHR-REG-DISPSYS-001 of 20 February 2006
• Belgian Ministry of Labour (SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation Sociale), Clés pour les décorations du travail (Brussels: 2008)
• Borné A.C., Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830-1985 (Bruxelles: 1985)
• Van Hoorebeke P., 175 Ans de l'Ordre de Léopold et les Ordres Nationaux Belges (MRA: 2007)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Order of Léopold II.

• Foreign affairs : Grand Cross - Grand Officer - Commander - Officer - Knight
• Order of Léopold II
• Belgian Orders Before World War I (in French)
• Information about Belgium orders Website BONNE & VERBEKE (in Dutch)