Figure 30: Supreme Revolutionary Council Medal, obverse.

Figure 31: Supreme Revolutionary Council Medal, reverse.

Figure 34: Labor Medal, obverse. Figure 35, Labor Medal, reverse.

Reverse:

Dimensions:

Ribbon:

Five pointed star with in center book and

crossed hoe and shovel, JAMHU-

URIYADDA DIMOQARAADIGA

SOOMAALIYA BILLAD HAWL-

KARNIMO (Democratic Republic of

Somalia Land of Hard Work) (Figure

35.)

Bronze, 40mm diameter.

Unknown.

Again this medal is identical in style to Supreme

Council Medal and dates from the same period.

In addition to the above medals, Ed Haynes1 in his

country study makes reference to the following Somali

medals.

Vol. 54, No. 5 23

Civil Merit Medal no further information concerning this piece.

Obverse: Reverse: Dimensions: Ribbon:

Unknown Unknown A two-class award in gilt and silver. Green, yellow and red stripes.

I have no further details of this medal, however I do recall seeing some years ago in the souk in Sana’a, Yemen, a silver Somali medal in the style of the previous three medals. In addition to this medal he also makes reference to the following Italian Administration awards:

Star of Military Valour

Obverse:

Reverse:

A five pointed star with a central circular medallion, AL VALORE MILITARE (Military Valour). Palm wreath.

Administration Medal

Obverse:

Reverse:

Crowned Somali arms surrounded by a wreath. A circular inscription AMMINI- STRAZIONE FIDUCIARIA ITAL- IANA SOMALIA and in the centerl APRILLE 1950 (Italian Somali Fiduciary Administration 1 April 1950)

Somali Security Corps Medal (Type I)

Obverse:

Reverse:

Somali arms, CORPO DI SICUREZZA

SOMALIA (Somali Security Corps).

Two soldiers and flag on a mountaintop

with the rising sun.

Somali Security Corps Medal (Type II)

Obverse:

Reverse:

Similar in design aforementioned police medal with a leopard’s head, CORPO DI SICUREZZA DELLA SOMALIA (Security Corps of Somalia). In the center a desert scene with fort, mosque, palm tree and starry sky. Above this a symbolic device of a propeller, anchor, machine-gun, hammer and mattock. Uppermost the Somali arms and the Arabic inscription Somalia.

Finally, in the collection of the Weapons Museum at Liege, Belgium, there is a Somali Military Merit Star to be worn as a small sized breast star. At this time, I have

There may well be additional medals to be found. In addition to the above medals there is of course the United Nations medal. The first UN mission (UNOSOM 1) commenced in April 1992 and was to monitor a cease fire and provide protection for the humanitarian relief program - as distribution of aid became more difficult the force was expanded to a more heavily armed Unified Task Force (UNITAF). This mission ended in April of 1993 and the second mission (UNOSOM II) took over. This ultimately failed in restoring law and order and the UN troops withdrew in March 1995. The qualifying period was 90-day service during either mission. The medal is the standard bronze UN service medal with a ribbon of three equal stripes of white, blue and white, the Somali and UN colors separated by nan’ow stripes of green. While there were a substantial number of US personnel present, no official US medal was issued to commemorate this involvement in UN mission; however an unofficial medal is available in the United States.

In concluding, it appears that despite the dire need for peace in Somalia, and the institution of the Transitional Legislative Body, factional fighting continues. The Gulf News of June 1, 2002, reported "Two hours of heavy fighting between rival groups in Somalia’s capital left at least eight people dead, half of them civilians, and 15 people wounded." It will not be until these factional differences are resolved that there will be any hope of Somalia effectively rejoining the community of nations.

Footnote

1. Haynes, Ed, Medals of the Democratic Republic of Somalia,

www.haynes.winthrop, edu/medals/somalia.html

Bibliography Orders and Decorations of All Nations, Second Edition, Robert Werlich, 1974. Graf Klenau Auction Catalogue, 21 June, 1985. Christie’s Auction Catalogue, 22 November, 1988. Rauch Auction Catalogue, November, 1998. Czerny’s Auction Catalogue, 12 May, 2002. Ordres et Medailles des Pays D ’Afrique a L’Epoque Post-Coloniale de 1960 a Nos Jours, Nicolas de Roffignac, 2000.

www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/so.html - CIA World

Factbook-Somalia. www.fotw.ca/flags/so.html - Somalia. www.arab.net/somalia - Arabnet - Somalia. www.haynese.winthrop.edu/medals/somalia.html - Medals of the Democratic Republic of Somalia. www.encarta.msn.com -"Somalia," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2002. Correspondence with Emannuel Halleux and Gustav Tammann, 2002.

Gulf News, 1 June, 2002.

24 JOMSA

The Type III Medal of Honor: A Major Design Change for the

Nation’s Highest Military Award

Murray A. Louis with Guyon Turner

Ronald E. Fischer in his excellent "Varieties of the Medal

of Honor 1862-1989," published in the Centennial

Anthology of the American Numismatic Association in

1991 (edited by Carl W. A. Carson and Michael Hodder)

discusses the development of the Medal of Honor from

1861, when a Navy version was suggested by Senator

James W. Grimes (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Naval Committee, to include Abraham Lincoln’s approval of

the medal on December 21 of the same year. This was

followed by a resolution from Senator Henry Wilson (R-

Mass) to produce "medals of honor" for men of the Army

and Volunteer Forces. The first contract was awarded to

William Wilson and Son, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia,

when the first 200 medals had already been put into

production.

Figure 1: Type III Medal of Honor

A great deal has been written about the origin and design

history of our nation’s highest gallantry award, the Medal

of Honor, but two issues have somehow eluded medal enthusiasts and medal historians: the significance of the

so-called Type III Medal of Honor (Figure 1), and the

early "focus group" that played a key role in the design

change that produced the authentic artistic progenitor of

the Medal as we know it today. Also missing from all

the sources I consulted on this subject was an actual

depiction of the Type III in its earliest developmental

stage and before the modifications that are now well

recognized as included in the current Army version of

the award.

Figure 2: Type I Medal of Honor

Aesthetically speaking, and even for their time, the medals, known as the Type I (Figure 2) and Type II (Figure 3) were drab and unappealing, as well as seriously flawed from a heraldic standpoint. And the subsequently produced Army version was no more impressive, or in conformity with, the canons of tasteful design exhibited by the orders and decorations of the world’s other nations in the mid-nineteenth century.

Vol. 54, No. 5 25