Médaille pour Actes de Courage et de Dévouement de 1871 a 1899

The Honour medal for courage and devotion (french: "Médaille d’honneur pour acte de courage et de dévouement") is a French decoration than can be bestowed to individuals and whole units. It is awarded for acts of courage during a rescue. The Honour medal for courage and devotion was created on 2 March 1820 by King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

. It has gone through several designs during its long history. The award was given its present name by a decree of 16 November 1901.

Award statute

Any person who risks his or her life to come to the rescue of one or many persons in danger, may be recognized with the medal. When the act of rescue does not warrant award of the medal, a letter of congratulations for a successful rescue or an honorable mention for a recognized meritorious act in the form of an official certificate type scroll may be granted. The Honour medal for courage and devotion is divided into five grades: *Bronze (french: Bronze) *Silver 2nd class (french: Argent de 2ème classe) *Silver 1st class (french: Argent de 1ère classe) *Silver-gilt (french: Vermeil) *Gold (french: Or) Bronze grade: awarded if the rescuer exposed himself or herself to a life-threatening condition, or to lesser risk if previously awarded a letter of congratulations and an honorable mention. Silver grades 1st and 2nd class: awarded only if previously awarded the bronze grade following a new act of courage during a rescue. The two grades are awarded for successive acts of courage. Silver-gilt grade: awarded only for the most intrepid acts to the bearer of two silver grade medals. Gold grade: awarded as an outstanding testimony to a person having distinguished himself or herself through exceptional acts towards his or her fellow citizens. The Honour medal for courage and devotion may also be collectively awarded to emergency and rescue units where the personnel present during the rewarded acts may wear a tricolour (blue-white-red)

fourragère The ''fourragère'' () is a military award, distinguishing military units as a whole, in the form of a braided cord. The award was first adopted by France, followed by other nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Luxembourg. Fou ...

Award description

The design of the Honour medal for courage and devotion changed many times through the decades. It is now a 27mm in diameter circular medal struck in bronze, silver, silver-gilt or gold. Its

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

bears the relief image of a standing woman holding palms and crowns surrounded by scenes of rescues under the relief inscription "DÉVOUEMENT" ( en, "DEVOTION"). The reverse bears along its upper circumference, the relief inscription "RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE" ( en, "FRENCH REPUBLIC"), at its center, the inscription "MINISTÈRE DE L'INTÉRIEUR" ( en, "INTERIOR MINISTRY") over a framed rectangular area destined to receive the name of the recipient and year of the award. The medal hangs from a 3 cm wide silk moiré tricolour ribbon of equal width blue, white and red vertical stripes. The 3 cm wide and 22mm high ribbon suspension loop is cast as an integral part of the medal in the form of oak leaves. The leaves of the suspension loop change colour depending on the grade of the award, bronze for the bronze grade, silver for the silver grade second class, silver-gilt for the silver grade first class and silver-gilt grade, and gold for the gold grade. Different devices may be worn on the

service ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

to denote the grade of the award when only the ribbons are worn. A plain ribbon is worn for the bronze grade, the silver grade second class is denoted by the addition of a silver five pointed star, a silver and a silver-gilt star for the silver grade first class, a silver-gilt star for the silver-gilt grade and a rosette for the gold grade.

Noteworthy recipients (partial list)

Oscar II av Sverige by Gosta Florman, 1891

*Gendarmerie general

Denis Favier Denis Favier (born May 18, 1959) is a French officer known for commanding the mission to remove hijackers from Air France Flight 8969. From 2013 to 2016, he has been the Chief of staff, General-Director of the French Gendarmerie. Favier was bo ...

*Paris firefighter Joseph Maigrot *Rescue helicopter pilot

Jean Boulet Jean Boulet (16 November 1920, Brunoy – 13 February 2011, Aix-en-Provence) was a French aviator. In 1957, Boulet was awarded the Aeronautical Medal; in 1983, he became one of the founding members of the French National Air and Space Academy ...

*General Jean Bouffet *Rescue helicopter pilot René Romet *Navy commander, doctor Éric Dumont *Police commissioner Robert Blémant *Paris firefighter lieutenant-colonel Frédéric Curie *Gendarmerie colonel Olivier Kim *Firefighter colonel Antoine Battesti *Military rabbi Paul Haguenauer *Navy commander

Philippe Kieffer Philippe Kieffer (24 October 1899 – 20 November 1962), '' capitaine de frégate'' in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces. Life and career Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to a ...

*Police detective

Roger Borniche Roger Borniche (7 June 1919 – 16 June 2020) was a French author and detective of the Sûreté nationale. Borniche was born in Vineuil-Saint-Firmin, Oise. He started as a singer, but his fledgling musical career was interrupted by the German ...

*Writer and historian Olivier-Raoul-Hugues Chebrou de Lespinats *Police commissioner Christophe Gavat *

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

, King of Sweden''Sveriges regenter : Från forntid till nutid'', Lars O. Lagerqvist, Norstedts, Stockholm 1997 p. 394 *

Mamoudou Gassama Mamoudou Gassama (born 1996) is a Malian- French citizen, living in France who, on 26 May 2018, climbed four stories on the exterior of a block of flats in the 18th arrondissement of Paris ( 51 rue Marx-Dormoy) in 30 seconds to save a four-yea ...

, who climbed the outside of an apartment building to rescue a toddler hanging from a balcony *Kenneth John Bellamy and Richard Jebbett of Lincolnshire, UK, who jumped into the River Seine in Paris and rescued a drowning woman.

Recipient units (partial list)

* 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment *

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (french: Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris, BSPP) is a French Army unit which serves as the primary fire and rescue service for Paris, the city's inner suburbs and certain sites of national strategic importance. The ...

References

External links