A STAR TO THE ORDER OF TIIE QUETZAL

by John Holloway

On page 23 of the April issue, there was advertised a star to tile Guatemalan Order of the Quetzal, as item #i0. It was listed as having the maker plate of Cravanzola of Rome, which struck me as a bit curious, since most South ~nerican insignia is usually French made if of European manu fa c tur e.

Having a bit of interest in South American awards~ which are so rel- atively seldom seen, I asked to examine the star. The stipulation was that nothing be published concerning it until after a sale was made, so that there could be no influence resultant from such an article.

This order was founded in 1936 and was named after the national bird of Guatemala. The bird is likewise to be found on the national seal, the coins and stamps of Guatemala, as well as on the national flag. It is depicted having a red breast, green feathers and an exceedingly long tail.

Decree No. 2157 of 23 April 1936 authorizes the order to be a re- ward to eminent services to Guatemala both by citizens and by foreigners. The Order does have a eoll .... d this s .... any years ago on e ihit by a coin dealer. I do not know what subsequently happened to it. Cardi-

nal Spelhnan of New York was once listed as having been a recipient of

this collar.

Originally the order consisted of only three grades: Grand Cross, Officer and Officer. The ist grade had the sash with cross plus

(star). The 2nd grade had only tile plaque, while the 3rd grade had the breast cross° The sash is described as sky-blue, but the

ribbon is described as blue-white-blue.

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The above information comes from "Central American Decorations", by L. F. Guille (1952). It is about the only detailed reference to this

order that I have found. However, in consulting it, there seems to be

some confusion or difficulty in reconciling all of the data. This very

probably stems from incomplete facts, so often the best that can be

gleaned from official sources.

In the ribbon index Mr. Guille lists a 100~l sash of sky-blue (to

be compared with Polish Long Service ribbon blue), as well as a 36r~

ribbon of blue-white-blue by equal one-thirdso In addition, he also

lists a 100mm sash of the same blue, but with a 3mm white stripe, 2mm

from each edge.

The first plaque is given as being 90mm in diameter, consisting of 32 rays. 16 of these are gold and ball-tipped, while the other 16 are of silver and pointed. The center is described as having the national arms on a sky-blue field. The gilt surrounding ring is inscribed: "GUATEMALA AL MERIT0". The Quetzal is in natural colors, but "on the top of the ring and with its head facing right and its tail hanging down the left side".

Apparently, then, there was no representation of the order cross on this plaque and the star we illustrate here cannot be the ist form. The original cross is described as being 50mm in diameter, 5-armed, each of which has two points ball-tipped. Between each arm is a silver spike and the center isgiven as being similar to the plaque center°

With Decree No. 2549, in 19L~I, modifications were made in the in- signia and the classes were enlarged from 3 to 4, by the addition of the Commander. This was accomplished by providing neck wear for the eross~ on the 40mm ribbon for the Commander. This same neck cross was also given to the Grand Officer to wear with the plaque.

The plaque now indeed corresponds to the one under study, in all but diameter. It is given as being 80mm in diameter, but the Cravanzola specimen is actually 8911m! (vertical tip to tip) x 84mm (horizontal).

Ten points now best describe this star, these major points being smooth gilt with faceted ball-tipso Between each of these major points is a cluster of 3 pointed and faoeted silver rays, the center one being the shortest.

Superimposed is a 5-armed gilt cross, each arm ending in a double "V" notch, the central point being the widest. Between each of these

arms is a silver spike. Each of the arms has medium dark-blue enamel around the edge with the inner area being a turquoise blue.

The center has the painted seal of Guatemala, consisting of the green Quetzal bird, red breasted and yellow headed. It sits on a rifle barrel of the two crossed brown muskets with bayonets. In the center is a scroll with "LIBERTAD / 15 de / SEPTIEMBRE / de 1821". Hanging from the bottom is’a tasselated cord. Crossed swords are beind the bottom of this scroll. All around this device is a green wreath with red ber- ries tied with a blue ribbon and all is on a turquoise or light-blue field.

Around this center, on a white field, is: "GUATEMALA / AL MERIT0". in gold.

The reverse to this highly convex star, is of course highly convex. The maker’s plate, slightly loose, has: "E. GARDIN0 SUCC. CRAVANZOLA ROMA" around the seal of the Kingdom of Italy. On the pin are two small punches: "800" in an oval and "66 (fasces) TO" in an irregular horizon- tally elongated 5 sided punch.

The long slender pin has a flattened underside and the pin hinge and catch are very deep.

This, then, agrees with the description in the aforementioned ref- erence. It goes on to state that the plaque of the Grand Officer will be smaller and the cross on it would have its arms in gold only. The latter, I presume, would mean no enamel on the alnns of the cross.

The cross of the order, after 1941, is described as 55mm in dia- meter and is much the same as the one already described as being on the plaque. The one major difference is that each of the points to each arms is ball-tipped. The reverse is given as being as the same as the obverse, but with: "XCMXXXVI / 0RDEN DEL QUETZAL".

Whether all classes wear the cross of the same 55mm size is not clear. However, the Officer’s Cross after 1941 is mentioned as being in gold with only the centers in color, but with the spikes between the arms in silver.

Mr. Guille describes a ribbon for the order, after 1941, as being 47mm, sky-blue with a 7mm white stripe inml from either edge.

So much for the sketchy knowledge of this order with an observation of a specific piece of insignia. It would be interesting to me to find out if any of our readers have any additional pieces and just how these might fit with the data given above.

NOTES ON THE AWARDS OF THE GERMAN THIRD REICH Part i0

In this series of notes we illustrate the Air Force Glider Pilot’s Badge (Sawicki #226) or "Luftwaffe Segelflugzeugf~hrerabzeichen" (Klietmann #Jc4-6437). The award was founded 16 December 1940.

In point of availability, it seems to be quite a scarce piece, judg- ing by the many collections that I have seen missing an altogether gen- uine specimen. Until proven wrong, I am of the opinion that my labeling of the two varieties sho~cn here is correct.

la/lb - Deep relief to the oak wreath, which is heavily silver plated. The eagle is darkly toned and the Swastika at the bottom is cut-out at the top and bottom arms. Most important is the reverse, which from this view has the wreath concavely dished. The surface of the reverse of this wreath is smooth and hard, with two large rivets securing the eagle to the wreath. The wide hinge at the top has a dy pin and a wire catch. The latter features vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, of course.