Order of the White Eagle (Serbia)
The Royal Order of the White Eagle ( Serbian - Cyrillic Краљевски орден Белог орла ), also known as the White Eagle Order , was awarded by the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1883 to 1945 . It was introduced along with the Order of St. Sava by King Milan I of Serbia on February 16, 1883, one year after the restoration of Serbia as a kingdom . It was awarded by the king to Serbian or foreign citizens for merits in times of peace and war or special services to the monarchy , state or nation of Serbia. Until 1898 it was the highest order to be awarded in the country.
Order classes
The Order of the White Eagle has five classes. The number of members per class is limited.
- Grand Cross (10 members)
- Grand Officer (20 members)
- Commander (40 members)
- Officer (150 members)
- Knight (300 members)
Order decoration
The golden medal (knight made of silver) shows a Serbian double-headed eagle with crowned heads. A royal crown is attached above. Two blue enameled ribbons hang from the crown and connect to the eagle heads.
A medallion is placed in the middle , which is surrounded by a ring with small golden pearls. In the medallion a gold-rimmed white cross, the coat of arms of Serbia , can be seen on a red background . A golden flame in each of the cross corners. On the reverse of the medallion, the crowned and entwined initials of the founder MI can be seen. In the blue band is the gold inscription in Cyrillic , February 22nd, 1882 .
Carrying method
The Grand Cross is carried over the shoulder with a sash . Grand officers and commanders wear the medal of the neck. The 1st and 2nd class also have a breast star . Officers and knights on a ribbon on the left chest, with a rosette on the ribbon for officers .
The ribbon is red with light blue stripes.
Others
After his accession to the throne in 1903, Peter I retained the order in a slightly different form. Since the end of the Serbian monarchy in 1945, the order has not been officially awarded. However, it was presented to several people close to him by Alexander of Yugoslavia , the son of the last Serbian king, Peter II . In September 1995, the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić awarded the medal to five members of the Greek Volunteer Guard .
In January 2004, pop star Michael Jackson caused a sensation when he appeared at a court hearing with an Order of the White Eagle around his neck.
literature
- Maximilian Gritzner : Handbook of the knight and merit orders of all civilized states in the world. Reprint-Verlag, Holzminden 2000, ISBN 3-8262-0705-X (unchanged reprint of the Leipzig 1893 edition).
Web links
- Description on the website of the Royal Family of Serbia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Takis Michas: Unholy Alliance. Greece and Milošević's Serbia (= Eastern Europe Series . Band 15 ). Texas A&M University Press, 2002, ISBN 1-58544-183-X , pp. 18 .
- ↑ Michael Jackson's false order ( Memento from May 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Netzeitung . January 21, 2004.