Order of Ismail

This Order was instituted by Royal Decree 96 of 1922 and subsequently modified by Royal Decree 48 of 1926. It was named after Khedive Ismail (reigned 1863-1879), the great-great-grandfather of King Farouk. He was considered a great modernizer, and presided over a period of great advancement in Egypt, (Suez Canal opening, industrialization, military expansion into Sudan and East Africa, all fuelled by a boom in cotton prices brought about by the American Civil War), but he massively overstretched Egypt’s budget, was forced to sell Egypt’s shares in the Canal to Britain, and the British and French essentially took over the running of the country. This led to popular unrest, and the Ottoman Sultan dismissed Ismail and appointed his son Tewfiq as Khedive. The Order was awarded to those who rendered eminent services to the nation.

Classes

The Order, subject to various amendments, consisted in brief of:

First Class or Grand Cordon - breast star worn left side, sash and sash badge.

Second Class or Grand Officer - breast star worn right side and neck badge.

Third Class or Commander - neck badge. Fourth Class or Knight - breast badge.

Recipients of this order were limited in number as follows:

First Class: 30 excluding royalty and foreign recipients. Second Class: 75 Third Class: 150. Fourth Class: 300.

Breast Star: A five-pointed blue enamelled star with ball

finials superimposed upon a circular multi-rayed

diamond faceted star (Figure 14). In the center of the

star a circular wreath encompassing the Arabic name

"Ismail." The star is 84mm in diameter.

Badge: As described above but with the addition of a crown suspension affixed to the uppermost arm of the star (Figure 15). The badge is 62mm excluding suspension and 62mm x 82ram including suspension. The dark blue sash is 100mm in width with a 9mm red edge stripe inset 2mm from each edge. The neck ribbon is

37mm in width with 5mm stripes inset lmm from each edge.

Figure 15: Sash Badge of the Order of lsmail.

Figure 16: Obverse of the 1st Type Breast Star

of the Order of the Nile.

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Order of the Nile

This Order was instituted on April 14, 1915 to reward services of benefit to the nation, and subsequently amended by Royal Decree 5 of 1923 and Royal Decree 49 of 1926.

Classes: The Order, subject to various amendments,

consisted in brief of:

First Class or Grand Cordon - breast star worn left side, sash and sash badge.

Second Class or Grand Officer - breast star worn right side and neck badge.

Third Class or Commander - neck badge. Fourth Class or Officer - breast badge. Fifth Class or Knight - breast badge.

Recipients of this order were graded as follows:

First Class: Ministers, civil servants of equivalent rank and Feriks (Major General).

Second Class: Civil servants, Feriks (Major General)), Lewas (Brigadier) and notables.

Third Class: Civil servants, Lewas (Brigadier), Maralais (Colonel), Kaimakams (Lieutenant Colonel) and notables

Fourth Class: Civil servants, Kaimakams (Lieutenant Colonel), Bimbashis (Major) and notables.

Fifth Class: Civil servants, Saghkolaghassis (Senior Captain), Youzbashis (Captain), Mulazim Awal

and Mulazim Tani (Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant) and notables.

The grade awarded to a civil servant was in accordance with his annual salary.

Badge and Breast Star (Figures 16 and 17): A five-

pointed white enamelled star superimposed upon a 96mm

ten-pointed multi-rayed diamond faceted star. In the

center of the star the circular Arabic inscription, "What

benefits Egypt owes to the Nile, her source of prosperity

and happiness." The badge is suspended by a crown

affixed to the uppermost arm of the star. In the case of

the breast star the crown is placed between the two

uppermost arms of the white enamelled star.

The badge is 63ram in diameter excluding suspension. The light blue sash is 100mm wide with a 9mm gold stripe inset 2ram from each edge. The neck ribbon is 37mm wide with 5ram stripes inset lmm from each edge. A second type of the badge and breast star also exists (Figure 18).

Figure 17: Reverse of the Breast Star

of the Order of the Nile.

Figure 18: 2nd Type of Badge and Breast Star

of the Order of the Nile.

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Order of the Military Star of King Fouad

This award was instituted by a Royal Decree on December 6, 1919 as the Order of the Military Star of Sultan Fouad and was re-designated the Order of the Military Star of King Fouad on March 15, 1922 and amended by Decree 95 of 1922 dated December 25, 1922. This Star was awarded to officers mentioned in Despatches by the Commander of the Armed Forces either for merit, or for distinguished service on the battlefield, or in the face of the enemy.

Figure 19: On the left, the Order of the Military Star of

King Fouad. The Medal for Meritorious Acts is on the right.

The star (Figure 19) consists of a five-pointed white enamel star with a gilded border. In the center, on a blue and red enamelled background, a pair of crossed swords, hilts lowermost, surrounded by a laurel wreath and surmounted by a crown. The obverse bears the Arabic inscription meaning, "Military Star of King Fouad."

The star, 47 mm in diameter, is suspended by a straight bar suspender affixed to the uppermost arm of the star. The ribbon consists of five equal stripes of blue, yellow, black, yellow and blue with narrow yellow edge stripes. In order of precedence this award came immediately after the Order of the Nile and before all other decorations. Subsequent awards were noted by a bar or clasp. The regulations note that as far as possible the awards were to be presented to recipients by the King. A brevet or

certificate accompanied the award and recipients were noted in the Gazette of the Minister of War and the Official Journal.

Medal for Meritorious Acts

Figure 20: Obverse of the Medal for Meritorious Acts.

This medal, in three classes - gold, silver and bronze - was instituted by Royal Decree on July 28, 1917 and subsequently amended by Decree 8 of 1923 and 71 of 1928, to reward individuals who had distinguished themselves either by long and meritorious service or a specific act of benefit to the nation. The medal is circular and the obverse (Figure 20) bears the arms of the Kingdom of Egypt; below that is the Hijri date 1335 - this corresponds to the Hijri year of institution 1917. The reverse (Figure 21) bears the Arabic inscription meaning, "King of Egypt - Medal for Meritorious Acts -the most useful among you are the best." The medal is suspended by a violet ribbon through a wide straight bar suspension affixed to the medal by a small clasp.

It was intended that the recipient’s name be engraved on the reverse of the medal and the date of the award engraved onto the suspension bar. Subsequent awards were to be recognised by the addition of further bars. The diameter of the 2nd and 3rd Classes is 30.5 mm, and it would appear from King Farouk’s group that the 1 st class is of a larger diameter.

Although while other medals were instituted during his reign (most notably the 1948 Palestine War Medal) King

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