The Medal of Military Merit ( el, Μετάλλιο Στρατιωτικής Αξίας) is a military decoration of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It was originally created in 1916 for wartime meritorious service, but post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

became a peace-time medal reserved for officers. After the abolition of the

Greek monarchy The monarchy of Greece ( el, Μοναρχία της Ελλάδας, Monarchía tis Elládas) or Greek monarchy ( el, Ελληνική Μοναρχία, Ellinikí Monarchía) was the government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of ...

in 1974, its design was slightly altered.

History

left, Medal of Military Merit, 1917. The medal was created as the Military Medal (Στρατιωτικόν Μετάλλιον) by the National Defence Government on 28 October 1916, during the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizel ...

, and was adopted as the Medal of Military Merit nationwide by Royal Decree on 30 June 1917. Originally the medal had four classes, with the third, second and first classes distinguished respectively by a bronze, silver and gilded laurel wreath on the ribbon, while the fourth class was plain.

Appearance

Its design, by the French sculptor André Rivaud who also designed the 1916 War Cross, was similar to the current version, a copper

cross pattée A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...

concave with the arms filled, enclosed in a laurel wreath and with two crossed short swords superimposed. The cross's arms bear the legend ΑΜΥΝΕΣΘΑΙ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΑΤΡΗΣ ("Defending the fatherland", a quote of

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

from the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

''). The 1916 version had a

phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

rising from its ashes in the center, while the post-1974 version substitutes the national emblem of Greece. The 1916 version bore the legend ΕΛΛΑΣ 1916–1917 ("Greece 1916–1917") on the reverse (although some medals omit the date or the inscription altogether), while the current version bears the legend ΓΙΑ ΣΤΡΑΤΙΩΤΙΚΗ ΑΞΙΑ ("For Military Merit"). The 1916 version was suspended by a yellow ribbon with two black stripes, while the current version's ribbon has three equal blue-white-blue stripes, edged with yellow. When worn as a

ribbon bar 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 ...

, the circular wreaths were substituted by branches. Due to the scarcity of officially sanctioned devices in the period 1916–1922, awardees often made use of similar devices from other medals, especially the French ''

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

''. The 1974 version has only three classes, distinguished by a bronze, silver and gilded laurel branches. The 3rd class is reserved for lower officers, the second class for mid-level officers, and the first class for

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

References

External links

1916/17 version at ''Medals of the World''

* George J. Beldecos, ''Hellenic Orders, Decorations and Medals'', pub. Hellenic War Museum, Athens 1991, {{Honors and decorations of Greece Military awards and decorations of Greece 1916 establishments in Greece Awards established in 1916