The Royal Medal of Recompense ( da, Den Kongelige Belønningsmedalje) is a Danish medal. Established by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein ...

the medal is presented at the prerogative of the

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

. Currently, it is awarded for 40 or 50 years of service to the same private employer.

History

The Royal Medal of Reward was established by an ordinance of King Christian IX on 4 September 1865. The statutes of the medal are renewed upon the accession of a new Danish monarch. The most current statutes were adopted 1 November 1972 with minor amendments made on 28 November 1986 and 25 January 1988.

Appearance

The medal is produced by the

Royal Mint of Denmark The Royal Mint of Denmark ( da, Den Kongelige Mønt) is a mint established by the Danish monarchy in the early 16th century, which currently by law is the only company allowed to mint the Danish currency ( DKK). It is owned by the Danish State and ...

. The medal is round, in diameter. It is made of either gilded silver for (gold medals) or silver and is made with and without a crown surmounting the medal. On the

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 ...

, it bears the effigy of Queen Margrethe II in profile. Surrounding the effigy is the inscription, ''Margareta II – Regina Daniæ''. The reverse of the medal bears a wreath of oak leaves. Recipient’s names are engraved on the edge, indicating that the medal is the personal property of recipients, and does not have to be returned upon death, unlike the badges of orders. The medal is suspended from a red ribbon with a white cross.

Criteria

The medal is awarded on the prerogative of the monarch and does not require prior recommendation from some public authority or source. Currently, the medal is primarily used to recognize those persons who have worked for the same private employer for 50 years, or for those who are no longer employed, but had at least 40 years of loyal service. The medal is abbreviated in the Court and State’s Calendar with the following

postnominals Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

: *B.M. 1* Gold Medal with Crown *B.M. 1 Gold Medal *B.M. * Silver Medal with Crown *B.M. Silver Medal.

References

{{reflist Orders, decorations, and medals of Denmark Long service medals Awards established in 1865 1865 establishments in Denmark