If 1636 is meant as a year, there were two predecessor states of what’s now Belgium. The Spanish Netherlands (with a white flag with a red diagonal cross on it) and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (with a red and yellow flag) were the powers in that area, and the flag of Belgium was adopted nearly 200 years later in 1831 by the Kingdom of Belgium.
Perhaps there was an event in 1636 that has mattered to the later formation of the Kingdom of Belgium and got commemorated with that badge, or it’s about an organisation that started in 1636, but I couldn’t find that in a quick search, so I’m hoping someone else can shed some light on it.
Belgium didn’t exist until 1830 so it must be something different I guess.
The cross of the order of st. John is used a lot in relation to military but this I have never seen before.
If it has something to do with the military, maybe /u/WarHeritageInstitute could help?
The letters in the centre could be ‘L’ and ‘R’ for ‘Leopold Rex’. I can’t find a connection with the numbers or the other letters/symbols.
It may be a medal comemorating the 20 years of the victory of battle of Verdun (1916).
As Verdun is in France while the medal is probably Belgian, it may be destinated to belgian volonteers or a selected troop of belgian army detached to the strategic lock of verdun.
All the major battles in Belgium took place in 1914, when France thought than Germany would not be stupid enought to send its force there (France underestimated the number of army corps Germany was willing to send west while it had Russia in the ass).
so it may be entirely possible that survivors of the belgian army fought with french army. being in THE winning battle would redeemed them.
Leopold III of saxe-cobourg was king of the belgians at the time. his monogramme is really different, more cursive with two L facing. The gothic R doesn’t correspond to something i can think of.
the cross is typical of the Order of Leopold. but there is no lion, which is strange since the lion is everywhere in belgian armorial.
the medal has an Art Nouveau feeling and that gothic font is not typical of the belgium at this time. It is more a XIX° C England symbol. The casting implies a metal industry that was not there in 1636. But in 1916, Belgium was a world leader in this domain.
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I would ask to the Museum of Army in Brussels’ Cinquantenaire.
6 comments
If 1636 is meant as a year, there were two predecessor states of what’s now Belgium. The Spanish Netherlands (with a white flag with a red diagonal cross on it) and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (with a red and yellow flag) were the powers in that area, and the flag of Belgium was adopted nearly 200 years later in 1831 by the Kingdom of Belgium.
Perhaps there was an event in 1636 that has mattered to the later formation of the Kingdom of Belgium and got commemorated with that badge, or it’s about an organisation that started in 1636, but I couldn’t find that in a quick search, so I’m hoping someone else can shed some light on it.
Belgium didn’t exist until 1830 so it must be something different I guess.
The cross of the order of st. John is used a lot in relation to military but this I have never seen before.
If it has something to do with the military, maybe /u/WarHeritageInstitute could help?
The letters in the centre could be ‘L’ and ‘R’ for ‘Leopold Rex’. I can’t find a connection with the numbers or the other letters/symbols.
It may be a medal comemorating the 20 years of the victory of battle of Verdun (1916).
As Verdun is in France while the medal is probably Belgian, it may be destinated to belgian volonteers or a selected troop of belgian army detached to the strategic lock of verdun.
All the major battles in Belgium took place in 1914, when France thought than Germany would not be stupid enought to send its force there (France underestimated the number of army corps Germany was willing to send west while it had Russia in the ass).
so it may be entirely possible that survivors of the belgian army fought with french army. being in THE winning battle would redeemed them.
Leopold III of saxe-cobourg was king of the belgians at the time. his monogramme is really different, more cursive with two L facing. The gothic R doesn’t correspond to something i can think of.
the cross is typical of the Order of Leopold. but there is no lion, which is strange since the lion is everywhere in belgian armorial.
the medal has an Art Nouveau feeling and that gothic font is not typical of the belgium at this time. It is more a XIX° C England symbol. The casting implies a metal industry that was not there in 1636. But in 1916, Belgium was a world leader in this domain.
​
I would ask to the Museum of Army in Brussels’ Cinquantenaire.