The Belgian Military Cross

All,

Unlike its British namesake, the Military Cross of the Kingdom of Belgium is not awarded for bravery. It is in fact a long service decoration for officers of the Belgian armed forces who have actively served their country faithfully and continuously during a period of 25 years. The Military Cross ("Militair Kruis" in Flemish, "Croix Militaire" in French) is awarded in two classes, 1st and 2nd class.

The cross itself is a gilt Maltese cross with a central medallion. The arms of the gilt-edged cross are enamelled black and have their points ending in ball finials. Between the arms appear crossed gilt swords. The obverse of the medallion bears the climbing Belgian lion, the reverse shows the monogram of the reigning monarch (nowadays replaced by the same lion as on the obverse). Small dots border the edge of the medallion.
The cross hangs from a large gilt crown, the top of which is pierced for the suspension ring through which passes the ribbon. This ribbon is 38mm wide, light green with 5 to 7 mm red stripes, inset 1mm. The 1st Class ribbon can be distinguished by its supplementary green and red rosette.

The Belgian Military Cross was instituted by Royal Decree on 11th February 1885 (published in the State Journal of 13th February) as a reward and honourable distinction to Army officers who had performed loyal and good service as officers for a period of 25 years.

A Royal Decree dated 25th March 1890 mentions some additional rules, e.g. one stating that the service years can be counted from the moment of entry into the army or into the Military School provided the would-be recipient was at least 16 years of age at the time. This Decree furthermore states that a break in the active service period through ill health is no obstruction although, of course, that period of time cannot be included in the accumulated active service years. It is also stipulated that officers, previously having been awarded the Military Decoration (given to NCO's for long service), will no longer wear the latter upon receiving the cross.
The Royal Decree of 12th September 1895 divided the Military Cross in 2 classes : 1st Class for 25 years service as an officer, 2nd class for 25 years of service (which means that the recipient - although holding commissioned rank - has not spent all his years in the service as an officer).
Later Royal Decrees laid down the rules for awarding this decoration, under specified conditions, to foreign officers (Decree of 19th August 1902), rules for taking leave without pay without forfeiting one's chances for the award (Decree of 16th July 1907) and rules dealing with the award to commissioned officers of the Armed Forces Reserve provided they had not been issued with or recommended for the Civilian Long Service Cross (for persons working in government departments). In their turn, services rendered for which the Military Cross has been awarded can no longer be considered in a recommendation for a civilian long service award.

The picture belows shows a 1st class cross with Leopold II reverse.

Best regards,
Hendrik