There are three main Orders - The Order of Leopold, The Order of the Crown and The Order of Leopold II - and two which were set up for services to Belgian's former colony, Belgian Congo, but which, whilst they have not been awarded since the colony's independence, still technically exist - The Order of the African Star and The Royal Order of the Lion.
The Coat of Arms of the Belgian Monarch appears to be the only one to carry the Chain of an Order of Chivalry, namely the Order of Leopold. The Sovereign is usually the Grand Master of Orders of Chivalry and so it only appears right. This is confirmed by the Royal Decree published on 19 July and signed on 12 July 2019 by King Philippe which redefined the Belgian Royal Coats of Arms, whatever the practice was before. The Decree does not specify usage for anyone else, not even for a monarch who has abdicated and would therefore be presumed to be a former Grand Master of the Order. It remains a matter of usage as to whether other members of the Belgian Royal Family use the Order, especially Queen Mathilde and Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant, especially considering the lack of usage before and the fact that the late Queen Fabiola never wore any Orders at all! |
Order of Leopold
The Order of Leopold (Dutch: Leopoldsorde, French: Ordre de Léopold) is the highest and oldest Belgian Order of Chivalry. When Belgium became independent of the Netherlands in 1830, there was an urgent need to create a national honour's system and Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, envisaged both an order of merit and a dynastic order. On 8th June 1832, Félix de Mérode, Minister of State, proposed the creation of a national order called Ordre de l'Union. After investigation by a committee, it was decided to choose the name Ordre de Léopold (Order of Leopold) with the motto "L'Union fait la Force / Eendracht maakt Macht", a free translation of the motto of the Brabant Revolution of 1789 "In Unione Salus", and traditionally the motto of the States General. The House accepted the proposal on 6th July by 37 votes to 35. A minority of the people's representatives wanted the creation of an exclusively military order, which Article 76 of the Constitution reserved as the privilege of the King. The Senate, though, approved the bill on 9th July, and on 11th July 1832 the Order came into law, still very much in the working stage. |
The Belgian court often used the Grand Cordon as a valuable diplomatic gift and, in the second half of the 19th century, as a dynastic order to bestow on family members during major family celebrations, especially weddings. For the wedding of his daughter Stéphanie to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, King Leopold II sent 20 Grand Cordons to the Austrian Court. In return the Belgian court received decorations, gifts which were part of the wedding negotiations. The Order was bestowed by King Leopold II on Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern, whose daughter Marie married Leopold's son Phillippe, Count of Flanders, and Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, who married Leopold's granddaughter Princess Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as a personal marriage gift. In 1878 the King named several diplomatic dignitaries Grand Cordon in honour of his silver wedding celebration.
In 1900 the occasion of the wedding of Prince Albert to Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria was used to send 15 Grand Cordons to the Bavarian Court. Among the recipients were Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria and his two sons, Princes Ludwig (the future Ludwig III of Bavaria) and Arnulf, Duke Louis of Bavaria and the father of the bride Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria. The younger brother of the new Princess, Duke Ludwig Wilhelm, was still a minor at the time of the wedding, and Minister Paul, Baron de Favereau opposed this as a wedding gift for an adolescent. However, the young Prince, aged 14, received the gift by royal decree.
It is not known who designed the Order. King Leopold himself and his jeweller Joseph Germain Dutalis are mentioned. The first decorations were ordered in August 1832, for which 60,000 francs, now about 250,000 euros, were allocated. This was not in time for the wedding of King Leopold to Princess Louise of Orléans on 9th August 1832, and so "paper" appointments were made instead. The witnesses and in-laws did not receive their decorations until April 1833. The first official drawings are attached to the Royal Decree of 7th September 1839.
It was not until 2nd September 1832 that the first knight's cross was delivered to the palace in Brussels. And so the first grant in Belgium took place on 9th December the same year. The French army was then completing the attack on the citadel of Antwerp, which was still in the hands of the Dutch government army. The badly wounded French engineer soldier Ausseil became the first knight in the Order of Leopold. That day, King Leopold I was meeting the first lines of returning soldiers and saw Aussell lying on a stretcher. The King said to him, "You are seriously injured, my friend" and Ausseil, who did not know who he was talking with, replied, "Yes, my General, but it was at my post, for my country and in the midst of my comrades." The King, who knew a thing or two about courage, immediately appointed him the very first Knight of the Order that had just been created. Treated at Antwerp hospital, the sapper received a visit from the Queen who presented him with a gold coin. After recovering, Aussell was also decorated with the Legion of Honor. The scene with the King was the subject of a painting by Carpentier, which, for a long time, adorned the Palace in Brussels. In 1862, the King decided to offer the painting to Ausseil, including a gift of a gold medal bearing his effigy and a pension of 300 francs.
His Knight's Cross is now kept in the collection of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces in Brussels. In the following January (the 1st and 3rd, respectively), the Mayors of Brussels and Antwerp were the first civillian appointments. In 1832 and 1833, four hundred French people were decorated with the Order of Leopold for their role in the revolt and in breaking the unity of the Netherlands; 385 Belgians received the Knight's Cross for their efforts.
Captain Henri Hallart became the first Belgian bearer of an Order of Leopold with swords on 7th January 1833.
In 1919, King Albert granted all Lieutenant-Generals of the Belgian Army the Grand Cordon in Brussels. King Albert also awarded 268 non-commissioned officers, corporals and soldiers with the Knight's Cross of the Order with a palm bearing the King's cypher on the ribbon. After the Second World War, the Order of Leopold was bestowed on the several officers of foreign militaries who had helped to liberate Belgium. Most notable were the Grand Cordons with Palms given to Sir Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1945. Today, membership can only be granted by decree of the Monarch and is reserved for the very most important Belgian nationals and some distinguished foreign people who have contributed to the Belgian military, Belgian society or the Belgian State. Annually, there are two major days when the present King normally grants membership, on 15th April (his birthday) and on 15th November 15 (Day of the Belgian Dynasty). |
The website of the Society of the Order (orderofleopold.be/) states that the colour chosen for the Riband was 'ponceau' or 'poppy red' to match both the order of the Golden Fleece (which many Belgians believe was their original order) and the French Legion of Honour. This may originally have been correct, but the Riband is now very obviously a striking shade of purple.
Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant, saw her 18th Birthday - 25th October 2019 - and coming of age marked with a ceremony at the Royal Palace in Brussels when she was awarded the Order of Leopold. This was an investiture ceremony and a recognition of her position as Heir Apparent to the Throne of the Belgians. The ceremony, held in front of the Royal Family, leading politicians and 80 people born in the same year as the Princess, was televised In his speech, Elisabeth's father, King Philippe said, ‘Happy birthday, my dear Elisabeth. Spread your wings, be happy. This is what I wish for you with all my heart.’ Elisabeth replied, 'Eighteen years is the transition to adulthood – the country can count on my commitment.' She added, 'My family has always been there to support and encourage me. Together we are a strong team.' |
Gaining her majority means that Elisabeth can now act as regent to her father and, when she becomes Queen of the Belgians in her own right, she no longer needs a regent herself. The award of the Order of Leopold was included in the ceremony but is not automatic. Elisabeth's father was awarded the Order in 1990 at the age of 30 by his uncle the late King Baudouin before his own father, Albert II, came to the Throne. We shall see if this ceremony, devised for Elisabeth, will become a tradition.
Elisabeth was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order which means that the Collar should also have been on display and would entitle her to place it around her Coat of Arms. Neither seems to be the case and it would be interesting to see what would happen if and when she wears military uniform at a formal occasion.
Order of the Crown
The Order of the Crown (French: Ordre de la Couronne, Dutch: Kroonorde) was established on 15th October 1897 by King Leopold II in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State. The Order was intended for use in the administration of this African area and when the order was established, "merit to African civilization" was specifically mentioned as a qualification for the conferment of the decoration. When the Belgian state took over the colony in 1908, the colonial orders became orders of the Belgian state. Currently, the Order of the Crown is awarded for services rendered to the Belgian state, especially for meritorious service in public employment. The Order of the Crown is also awarded for distinguished artistic, literary or scientific achievements, or for commercial or industrial services in Belgium or Africa. The Order may also be bestowed on foreign nationals and is frequently awarded to military and diplomatic personnel from other countries stationed in (or providing support to) Belgium. |
The Order of the Crown is awarded by royal decree.
Again, the colour chosen for the Riband is described as 'ponceau', but, apart from it not really being good to have the Riband of two of country's Orders of Chivalry the same colour, the Order of the Crown's 'ponceau' is decidedly maroon or, at least, bluish-red.
Order of Leopold II
The Order of Leopold II is, not surprisingly, named in honor of King Leopold II. who established the decoration on 24th August 1900 as King of the Congo Free State, which was his private property, and was incorporated into the Belgian awards system in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgian state as a colony. The Order is awarded for meritorious service to the sovereign of Belgium and as a token of his personal goodwill. It can be awarded to both Belgians and foreigners, and is seen as diplomatic gift of merit. The Order has become a long service order for people in the civil service and is awarded alternatively with the Order of the Crown, as the Order of Leopold is awarded under rarer circumstances. The Order currently stands third after the Order of Leopold (1st) and the Order of the Crown (2nd) in the Belgian honors hierarchy. The Order of Leopold II is awarded by Royal Decree. | For commissioned officers not members of the flying personnel, the Order of Leopold II is only awarded at the time of retirement, even if it is in fact earned before that in line with the rules presented above. Even then, because of the generic rule that one cannot be awarded a national order at a level below the highest that the recipient has already received, the Order of Leopold II will not be awarded if the recipient has, in the meantime, been awarded a higher national order than the Order of Leopold II at the Class he could receive. This apparent anomaly is due to the fact that King Albert I, who was a keen aviator, wanted to provide a special reward for aircraft pilots, and therefore ordered that the Order of Leopold II only be awarded to them. The Order of Leopold II has been awarded to those who would not qualify for the other two Orders. For instance, where Prince Joachim of Denmark was awarded the Order of the Crown, his wife, Princess Marie, was award the Order of Leopold II. Both are shown here arriving at the State Banquet hosted for King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium on 28th March 2017 at Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark, during their three-day State Visit to Denmark. |
Other Orders
The Order of the African Star (Dutch: Orde van de Afrikaanse Ster; French: Ordre de l'Étoile africaine) was established by Leopold II of Belgium on 30th December 1888, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to Congo and for the "promotion of African civilisation in general". It was incorporated into the Belgian honours system on 10th October 1908 following the annexation of the Congo Free State by Belgium.
The Royal Order of the Lion (Dutch: Koninklijke orde van de Leeuw; French: Ordre Royal du Lion) was established by King Leopold II of Belgium on 9th April 1891, in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State, and was awarded for services to the Congo and its ruler that did not deserve the award of the Order of the African Star and were not necessarily performed from within Belgian Congo.
Both Orders are still theoretically awarded by Royal Decree with approval by the Council of Ministers. Following the independence of Congo in 1960, they are no longer awarded, although they officially still exist.