Type Decoration Established 12 September 1947 | Status Not awarded since 1957 Last awarded 7 July 1957 | |
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Eligibility Military and civilian French and foreign nationals Awarded for Participation in the liberation of France in the Second World War | ||
The Medal of a liberated France (French: "Médaille de la France libérée") was a decoration of the French Republic created by decree on 12 September 1947 and originally named the "Medal of Gratitude of a Liberated France" (French: "Médaille de la Reconnaissance de la France Libérée"). It was intended as a reward for French and foreign nationals that had made a notable contribution to the liberation of France from the German occupation.
Contents
A decree of 7 October 1947 defined the medal's design and added it would be awarded under the authority of the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Victims of War (French: Ministre des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de guerre) on advice from a board composed of twenty-one members including the President of the National Assembly, the Vice-President of the State Council, a representative of the National Council of the Resistance, a general officer and a representative of the Justice Ministry.
A later decree of 16 June 1948 gave it its present name and added a member from the Interior Ministry to the board charged with selecting recipients from the applications. A further decree of 4 June 1949 followed by ministerial instructions on 1 December 1950 redefined both the composition of the board and award prerequisites.
The board was composed of:
Award statute
The Medal of a liberated France could be awarded:
Recipients of the following French awards received in conjunction with the liberation of France could not receive the Medal of a liberated France:
Award description
The Medal of a liberated France was a 35mm in diameter circular medal struck from bronze. The obverse bore the relief image of France with the relief date "1944" at its center. A relief chain encircles the image of France with two breaks in its links, one North-east, the other South-west, symbolizing the allied landings. The reverse bore the relief image of a Fasces below a Phrygian cap bisecting the initials "R.F." and the relief inscription "LA FRANCE A SES LIBERATEURS" (English: "FRANCE TO ITS LIBERATORS") along the upper and lower circumference.
The medal hung from a 36mm wide rainbow coloured silk moiré ribbon, the colours placed opposite those of the ribbon of the 1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal with the purple at center.