$17.50 CAD
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Belgian Labour Decoration, First Class. Complete with rosette.
Ribbon is a bit frayed. Medal could use a little polish.
The Labour Decoration (French: Décoration du Travail, Dutch: Decoratie voor Arbeid) is a Belgian labour long service medal originally established on 7 November 1847 under the name "Industrial and Agricultural Decoration". Its statute and design were reformed in 1958, it has since retained its present name and design. The Labour Decoration is awarded to those who use their knowledge, talent and dedication in the pursuit of their work for a specified time. It is awarded by the Belgian Ministry of Employment and Labour.
The Labour Decoration is awarded in two classes:
The first class is awarded to those who can demonstrate thirty years of professional activity. Craftsmen who are not employees may be awarded the first class award if they can demonstrate twenty years of independent work in Belgium after their twenty-first birthday.
The second class is awarded to those who can demonstrate twenty-five years of professional activity.
The insignia of the Labour Decoration is oval and made of silver, surrounded by a blue enamelled laurel wreath, with in its center a black enamelled oval medallion surrounded by a red enamelled border and in the center an emblem made of a beehive, a hammer and a compass and topped by the coat of arms of Belgium. The insignia is suspended by a ring through a lateral suspension loop through the orb of a pivot mounted royal crown. The reverse of the insignia is plain. The emblem and the royal crown are silver for the second class decoration and gold for the first class.
The ribbon of the Labour Decoration has three longitudinal stripes of equal width in the national colours of Belgium, black, yellow and red. The ribbon of the decoration first class is adorned with a rosette in the same colours.
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