Royal Order of the Lion

This article is about the Royal Order of the Lion. For other uses, see Order of the Lion.

Royal Order of the Lion Ordre royal du Lion

Commander's Cross of the Order of the Lion
Awarded by Kingdom of Belgium
Type	Order of Merit with five classes and three medals
Motto	TRAVAIL ET PROGRES - ARBEID EN VOORUITGANG
Awarded for	Services to Congo and its ruler
Status	Still living members, but no longer awarded since 1962
Sovereign	His Majesty King Philippe
Chancellor	Never nominated
Former grades	Grand Cross Grand Officer Commander Officer Knight
Established	1891 - 1908 (Order of Congo Free State) 1908 - 1962 (as Belgian Order)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of the African Star
Next (lower)	Order of the Crown (Belgium)

The Royal Order of the Lion (French: Ordre Royal du Lion) (Dutch: Orde van de Leeuw) was established by King Leopold II of the Belgians on 9 April 1891, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to Congo and its ruler that did not deserve the award of the Order of the African Star and were not necessarily performed from within the Congo. It was incorporated into the Belgian honours system following the annexation of the Congo Free State by Belgium. The motto of the Order is "Travail et progrès" (French: Labour and progress). The King of the Belgians is its Grand Master. Even though Congo is no longer a Belgian colony, it is still considered to be a Belgian Order.

The Royal Order of the Lion is awarded by Royal Decree. Following the independence of Congo in 1960, the Royal Order of the Lion is no longer awarded (although it still exists).

Classes

The Royal Order of the Lion has five classes and three medals:

Grand Cross, who wears the badge on a sash on the right shoulder, plus the plaque on the left chest;
Grand Officer, who wears only the plaque on the left chest;
Commander, who wears the badge on a necklet;
Officer, who wears the badge on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest;
Knight, who wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest;
Gold Medal, who wears the medal on the left chest;
Silver Medal, who wears the medal on the left chest;
Bronze Medal, who wears the medal on the left chest.

Insignia

The Badge of the order is a white enamel Rupert cross with a perimeter channel of blue enamel, with the angles in-filled with filigree 'back to back' letter "C"s for "Congo". The central disc depicts the crowned Belgian lion on a blue enamel background surrounded by a silver ring with the motto of the Congo "TRAVAIL ET PROGRES". This again is surrounded by a scalloped channel of blue enamel. Reverse, similar to the obverse but with a central disc of red enamel with the crowned royal monogram "L/S/L" superimposed. Suspension is by means of a pivoting royal crown and ring.

The Plaque (for Grand Cross) is a faceted silver eight-pointed star, or (for Grand Officer) a faceted silver Maltese Cross with silver rays between the arms. The central disc is the same to that of the badge.

The Medal is round in gold, silver and bronze versions, with a suspension in the form of a royal crown with two pendelia and a ribbon ring. The obverse shows a finely ribbed central area with bead surround, with a royal lion superimposed. The surrounding circlet carries the motto of the Belgian Congo: Travail et Progrès (work and progress) - the later issues are bilingual including the Dutch Arbeid en Vooruitgang in the lower half of the circlet. The reverse is a stylised 'double L' crowned Leopold II monogram within a palm wreath.

The Ribbon of the order is amaranth purple, with narrow pale yellow edge stripes bordered with pale blue. When awarded in war time, the ribbon of the Order may be arorned with a silver of gold palm.

The Ribbon bar of the order is worn on the semi-formal dress uniform.

Collar of the Order
Front view - Reverse view
Ribbon bars & Decorations
Grand Cross	Grand Officer	Commander	Officer	Knight

Sash - Plaque	Star	Necklet star	Decoration	Decoration
	Gold Medal	Silver Medal	Bronze Medal
.				.
.	Medal	Medal	Medal	.

Award Conditions

The Royal Order of the Lion was awarded for services to Congo and its ruler that did not deserve the award of the Order of the African Star and were not necessarily performed from within the Congo. In particular, it was awarded for long distinguished service in the Belgian Congo.

As with the Order of the African Star, the Royal Order of the Lion is currently administered by the FPS Foreign Affairs, but was originally administered by the Ministry of the Colonies.

References

Royal Decree of 26 March 1953 Creating Palms for the Order of the African Star and the Royal Order of the Lion when Awarded in War Time (Moniteur Belge of 14 April 1953)
Borné A.C., Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830-1985 (Bruxelles: 1985)
Van Hoorebeke P., 175 Ans de l'Ordre de Léopold et les Ordres Nationaux Belges (MRA: 2007)

External links

Orders and Honours of Belgium

Current orders	Order of Leopold Order of the Crown Order of Leopold II

Formerly awarded orders (dormant)	Order of the African Star Royal Order of the Lion

Pre 1914 war medals and decorations	Civic Guard Merit Medal 1830 Star of Honour Iron Cross 1830 Volunteers' Commemorative Cross 1870–71 Commemorative Medal

1914–1918 war medals and decorations	Croix de guerre 1914–18 Fire Cross 1914–1918 Yser Medal Yser Cross Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914–1918 1914–1918 Commemorative War Medal 1914–1917 African Campaigns Commemorative Medal Liège Medal Maritime Decoration 1914–1918 Political Prisoner's Medal 1914–1918 Deportees' Cross 1914–1918 1914–1918 Medal for National Restoration King Albert Medal Queen Elisabeth Medal Inter-Allied Victory Medal 1914–1918 Civic Decoration 1914–1918 Commemorative Medal of the National Committee for Aid and Food

1940–1945 war medals and decorations	Croix de guerre 1940–45 Maritime Medal 1940–1945 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal Volunteer's Medal 1940–1945 1940–1945 African War Medal 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal Abyssinian Campaigns Commemorative Medal Resistance Medal 1940–1945 Civilian Resistance Medal Civilian Disobedience Medal Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 Prisoner of War Medal 1940–1945 Escapees' Cross 1940–1945 Medal for Resistance against Nazism in the Annexed Territories Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940 Medal of Belgian Gratitude 1940–1945 Commemorative Medal of the War 1940–1945 Civic Decoration 1940–1945

Post 1945 war medals and decorations	Foreign Operational Theatres Commemorative Medal War Volunteer's Medal

Current military awards	Military Cross Military Decoration Croix de guerre (post-1954) Cross of Honour for Military Service Abroad Commemorative Medal for Armed Humanitarian Operations Medal for Services Rendered Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions Medal for Military Merit Commemorative Medal for the "European March of Memory and Friendship" "Four Days of the Yser" Commemorative Medal

Current civilian awards	Civic Decoration Honour Badge of Labour Labour Decoration Decoration for Mutuality

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

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