War Medals and Their HistorySteward, William Augustus
History
War Medals and Their History
Steward, William Augustus
Great Britain. Army -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.
Just over fifty years later, Charles I established the principle for
the Army, and thus strengthened the precedent, which was gradually
extended, until now every boy and man who has acquitted himself
creditably in a campaign, and the nurses also, may rightly claim the
medallic recognition and record of their principal services by land or
by sea.
=Elizabethan Naval Medals.=--A silver medal, with an attached half-ring
loop for suspension, was apparently given by Queen Elizabeth for naval
achievements; it is oval, and bears on the obverse a bust of the
Queen, and on the reverse a bay tree on an island, with the legend
impressed thereon NON · IPSA · PERICVLA · TANGVNT. This is a splendidly
decorative medal. The "Ark-in-Flood medal," though hardly so well
designed or so delicately cut, is characteristic. It is generally
stated that it was given to the principal officers who fought against
the Armada, or to commanders who had distinguished themselves at sea.
The medal was struck in gold and silver and measured 2 in. by 1¾ in.,
and was suspended by a fancy loop. On the obverse of the medal is a
bust of the Queen facing to the left, with the inscription ELIZABETH ◆
D ◆ G ◆ ANGLIE ◆ F ◆ ET ◆ H ◆ REG.
These, like another medal given by Elizabeth, we may reasonably suppose
to have been struck to commemorate the defeat of the "Invincible
Armada." James I issued a similar medal in gold and silver, with a ring
for suspension. On the reverse is the Ark upon the waters, having above
it, like Elizabeth's medal, the symbol indicative of Divine protection,
surrounded by the motto STET · SALVUS · IN · VNDIS. There are two
kinds of obverse to this medal, one with a portrait bust of the King
in armour with a ruff, and the legend FIDEI DEFENSOR encircling the
head. This apparently was for military officers, and the one bearing an
obverse with the King's head surmounted by a broad-brimmed hat, for his
courtiers. Nothing, however, can be stated with any certainty on this
point. The motto on the obverse is JACOBUS · D · G · MAG · BRITA · FR ·
ET · HI · REX; and on the reverse an ark within an oval band containing
the motto PER VNDUS SEVAS TRANQVILLA.
=Charles I establishes Military Medals.=--Having indicated the creation
of the campaign or active-service medal for the Navy, we will leave the
consideration of naval medals for the section which will be reserved
for that purpose and deal with the listing of the military badges of
the brave, commencing with those which were struck in the days of
Charles I, who established medals for military prowess.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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