Order of Merit (Vichy)
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The Order of Merit for Labor ( French Ordre national du Travail ) was founded on April 1, 1942 by the Vichy regime and was intended to be awarded to French people who had made merits in the field of work, trade and industry.
Order classes
The order was donated in three classes and the number of annual awards was limited:
To get with the III. To be honored in the 1st class of the Order, the entrusted had to look back on ten years of service and be at least 35 years old.
Order decoration
The medal is a silver, blue enameled Maltese cross with small spheres on the tips of the cross. Under the arms of the cross a wreath made of palm (left) and laurel branches (right). In the medallion the head of Marshal Philippe Pétain looking to the right with the inscription PHILIPPE PÉTAIN MARÈCHAL DE FRANCE - CHEF DE l´ÉTAT.. In the lapel the coat of arms of the regime , an emblem formed from a marshal's baton and two Franziska with the surrounding inscription ORDRE NATIONAL DU TRAVAIL.
Carrying method
The award was worn on a 40 mm wide blue ribbon with 5 mm wide red side stripes. Commanders decorated it as a neck medal , officers as a cross and knights on a ribbon on the left side of the chest.
Awards
The awards traditionally took place on May 1st and the medal had been awarded a total of 200 times by the end of the regime.
literature
- Uniforms market , year 1944, issue 2, p. 7.