Order of Mihai Viteazul Civil Holders

What makes you say that?

It is only a guess. I do not know what other civilians would have been awarded the Michael the Brave order and no one has yet to explain why a civilian would have received such an order. I think that some members of parliament and senate received this order when they aligned themselves with Germany in 1941. This photo was taken when Romania became an axis power with Germany and Germany entered into Romania. The book "Ordinul Militar De Razboi Mihai Viteazul" by Colonel Eugen Ichim only makes reference to military holders of the order. I have not seen any photos of Civil holders pre-1941. Perhaps it had something to do with Romania becoming an Axis power.

This post has been edited by REGAL UNIFORMA COLECTOR on August 23, 2005 02:17 am

Reservists also received the order during wartime. This may be the motive there are civilians wearing it.

According to the regulations, the Order of Michael the Brave was awarded only to officers for outstanding military achievements in wartime. It is therefore not likely that someone - even less a civilian - has received it as a peacetime courtesy sign.

On the other hand, if I remember right it was not required that the persons receiving it to be career officers. It is therefore possible that the civilians in the photo were under arms during WWI - as reservists called for duty or as volunteers - and have then received the Order of Michael the Brave (as Victor also said). Then, when the war was over, they left the army and returned to their civilian activities. Thus, it is not surprising that civilians were wearing the order in 1940 or 1941.

Most likely it is the Order of the Crown of Romania.

http://img407.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kr6346jx.jpg
This photos came from e-bay seller"merenti"
it's good photo

Mihai

This post has been edited by mihai on October 15, 2005 03:43 am

Mihai-san, the link is not working.
Is this the photo you are referring to?

Gen. Dénes



This post has been edited by Dénes on October 15, 2005 03:57 am

The link given by Mihai does not work, but the address is correct. You just need to do a 'Copy/Paste operation' and you will get the image I posted on 21 August.

Yes, it's just what I exactly did.

Gen. Dénes

According to the information provided by Kepi, this photo was taken during the parade of 8 November 1941.

The ring was carried, as a personal jewel, by the Guard Division (“DG”) officers. The presence of “Michael the Brave” order on the ring could be explained by the fact that all the division regiments have received this highest military order. The National Military Museum has several similar items. (Courtesy by Professor Cornel Andonie)

Thanks for the info Kepi!

Thanks, Kepi, for this update. Could you tell if this ring was a privately made item or an official one? I mean, was its use introduced officially into the Guard Division? If it were a private item, then the chances are that there are a lot of variations, e.g., depending on the jewellers who made them. On the other hand, an official item must have had some strict specifications and therefore there were fewer variations. These two rings are almost identical, suggesting some sort of a "mass production", but on the other hand two is quite a poor sample.

It was a great variety concerning the Romanian military insignia (regimental and qualification badges), even for those adopted by Royal Decrees and had an approved design. These badges were produced by different jewelers in small quantities (a few tens), probably at different periods, so differences could exists between items. Other badges as the small chain-amulets (“Martisoare”), cuff links or rings, were an absolutely private initiative of the officers of a particular regiment, especially for some famous/elite units, such as the Guard, cavalry, mountain troops, etc.
In my opinion this ring is a typical example of a privately design and acquired military item. They were not officially issued but were tolerated by senior officers as strengthen the unit “Esprit de Corps”. As far as know, the rings in the Military Museum are all identical.

Thanks for these latest details on the rings of the Guard Division.