Military Cross (Belgium)

Award

Military Cross

Military Cross First Class

Type| Military decoration
Awarded for| Loyal and uninterrupted or meritorious service.
Presented by|  Kingdom of Belgium
Eligibility| Commissioned Officers
Status| Currently awarded
Established| 11 February 1885

Ribbon, First Class

Ribbon, Second Class
Precedence
Next (higher)| Military Decoration for gallantry or exceptional devotion
Next (lower)| Military Decoration for faithful Service

The Military Cross (Dutch: Militair Kruis, French: Croix Militaire) is a military long service decoration of Belgium. It was established by Royal Decree on 11 February 1885 and is awarded to commissioned officers in the Belgian Armed Forces for loyal and uninterrupted service or to Non-Belgian military officers for distinguished service in favor of the Military of Belgium.[1]

## Award criteria

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### Belgian military officers

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The Military Cross, second class is awarded to Belgian military officers after 25 years of service.
The Military Cross, first class is awarded to Belgian military officers after 25 years of service as a commissioned officer.

In the Belgian military, years of actual service are sometimes multiplied with a certain factor when calculating the minimum due time for a long service award (to compensate for service in the air or on the battlefield). No such 'bonifications' may be applied when calculating the time served, required for the award of the Military Cross. Officers of the military reserve can also be awarded this decoration, on the condition that they are part of the trained (active) reserve forces and that their time served wasn't honored by the award of the Civic Decoration.[2]

When serious disciplinary actions were taken against an officer, resulting in a temporary relief of duty, each month (begun) of non-activity results in a penalization of 12 months when it comes to the calculation of the service time required for this award. For example 34 days of non-activity due to disciplinary actions results in a penalization of 2 years, meaning the officer will receive the second class of the Military Cross after 28 years of service, instead of the usual 25.

This penalization is limited to 6 years per disciplinary action. This limit is reached whenever a temporary relief of duty of 7 months or more is ordered, which happens almost never.

### Non-Belgian military officers

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The Military Cross may be awarded to Commissioned Officers of non-Belgian armed forces for distinguished service towards the Belgian Defence. In such a case, the second class is awarded to officers below the rank of brigadier general. The first class is awarded to general officers.

## Appearance

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The Military Cross is a black enamelled Maltese cross with a 1 mm gilt edge, the cross arms end in eight 2 mm in diameter gilt spheres. Gilt crossed swords pointing up are positioned between the arms of the cross. The obverse central medallion bears the Belgian "lion rampant", pre 1952, the reverse medallion bore the royal cypher of the reigning monarch, post 1952, the reverse is identical to the obverse.[2]

Suspension is by means of a ribbon through a suspension ring passing through the orb of a pivot mounted crown. The green silk moiré ribbon has two 5 mm wide red stripes set 1 mm from the ribbon's edges. The Military Cross First Class differs only from the second class award in the form of a rosette on the ribbon in the same colours as the ribbon.[2]

## Devices

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When the first class of the medal is awarded, a rosette is attached to the ribbon.

## Notable recipients (partial list)

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As Belgian military officers receive the award as a long service awards, their names have been omitted from this list.

* US Air Force Colonel Dean King - Military Cross Second Class[3]
* Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur \- Military Cross First Class (1918)

## See also

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* Belgium portal

* Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium

## References

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1. ^ "Eretekens - regulation". Belgian Defence Ministry. 2016-08-08. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|url=` (help)
2. ^ a b c "Royal Decree of 11 February 1885 creating the Military Cross". Belgian Defence Ministry. 1885-02-11. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|url=` (help)
3. ^ "Colonel Dean King receives a medal by the Chief and Secretary of Defence" (in Dutch). Belgian Defence. 2014-07-03. Retrieved 2018-08-27.

## Other sources

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* Quinot H., 1950, Recueil illustré des décorations belges et congolaises, 4e Edition. (Hasselt)
* Cornet R., 1982, Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges. 2e Ed. N.pl., (Brussels)
* Belgian military regulation DGHR-REG-DISPSYS-001 of 20 February 2006

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military Cross (Belgium).

* Belgian Military Cross at Northeastmedals
* Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (In French)
* Les Ordres Nationaux Belges (In French)
* ARS MORIENDI Notables from Belgian history Archived 2011-09-06 at the Wayback Machine (In French and Dutch)
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Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium

National orders|

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Pre–1914|

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World War I|

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World War II
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Current
military awards|

* Military Decoration for exceptional service, bravery or exceptional devotion
* Military Cross
* Military Decoration for faithful service
* Cross of Honour for Military Service Abroad
* Commemorative Medal for Armed Humanitarian Operations
* Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions
* Commemorative medal for missions or operations regarding the operational defense of the territory
* Meritorious Service Medal

Current
civilian awards|

* Civil decoration for acts of bravery, selfsacrifice and philanthropy
* Civil decoration for faithful service
* Labour Decoration
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Commemorative
medals|

* Commemorative Decoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Creation of the Railroads
* Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Leopold II
* Commemorative Medal for the 75th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service
* Centenary of National Independence Commemorative Medal
* Commemorative Medal for the Centenary of the Telegraphic Service
* Commemorative Medal for the 100th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service
* Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Albert I
* Commemorative Medal for the "European March of Memory and Friendship"
* "Four Days of the Yser" Commemorative Medal

Belgian Red Cross|

* Order of the Belgian Red Cross
* Blood Donour's Medal
* 1940–1945 Cross of Honour of the Belgian Red Cross
* 1940–1945 Belgian Red Cross Decoration

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