Medals For Everyday Attire?

[Aleviate]

Can a person who has been awarded an OBE for example wear their medal in daily life, or is it restricted to ceremonial use only or just not allowed? (which could be the same as not the done thing).

Thanks.

 

[NGalitzine]

I suppose they could if they wanted to but it really is not the done thing and would look rather odd. Medals generally should be worn with uniforms or white tie. Even Beckham wearing his OBE with morning suit at W&C's wedding was wrong plus he wore it on the wrong side.

Medals are usually only worn with day wear at the Remembrance Day service, and occassionally at a rather grand funeral or memorial service if indicated on the invitation

 

[Aleviate]

Oh yes I remember reading about that. Can a KBE be work around the neck, at the front of the throat for example.

 

[NGalitzine]

A KBE has both a breast star and a neck badge, but no sash. If you search for a picture of Sir Roger Moore at the 2004 Danish wedding you will see what I mean.

 

[Aleviate]

Old Roger, he was the best one you know. Well I see from the imagery that it's in the general area but I was wondering if it could go higher up, not like a choker, but in place of a bow-tie.

Roger Moore Photos - Wedding Of Danish Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson - Zimbio

 

[Aleviate]

Sorry, I was still trying to clarify if the KBE could be worn in place of a bow tie, so a little higher than how Sir Moore had it.

 

[NGalitzine]

Sorry, I was still trying to clarify if the KBE could be worn in place of a bow tie, so a little higher than how Sir Moore had it.

Not sure what you mean by "in place of a bow tie". A KBE wears the neckbadge suspended below the white tie and the star of his order on the left side of his jacket. I suppose he could wear it with a regular morning coat and tie but that would be an unusual circumstance. Obviously if the knight in question was wearing a military uniform the whole tie issue goes out the window and the neck badge would be at the top of the uniform from the collar.

 

[Aleviate]

I think that's what I mean, in the collar, typically a high one, where a bow-tie would sit. I was wondering what flexibility the KBE owner would have to wear their honor?

 

[cepe]

I dont know if there is a single answer because I think that in the latest programme about the Queen to be aired in the UK, I thought that some of the staff more their honours for the banquet, including some of the more junior honours.

 

[Aleviate]

I found this on the government's website, it seems to echo what I was looking for, but I'm not if it apples to other honors and so will be conducting more research:

"Baronet's Badge: (The Badge is worn suspended round the neck from the riband in the same manner as the Neck Badge of an Order. It takes precedence immediately after the Badge of the Order of Merit. It is not worn in miniature and the riband is not worn with Undress Uniform.)"


ref: http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consu...sets/@dg/documents/digitalasset/dg_068133.pdf

 

[Aleviate]

I rung the Public Information Office at Buckingham Palace and they confirmed that the KBE honor can be worn tightly round the neck.

 

[NGalitzine]

I guess I am confused about what exactly the gentleman in question is supposed to be wearing if the KBE neck badge is being worn tightly around the neck (sounds very uncomfortable) and is not wearing white tie. Is he just wearing a t-shirt? Why would he even be wearing the neck badge if he was not wearing formal attire?

 

[Von Schlesian]

Why would he even be wearing the neck badge if he was not wearing formal attire?

Exactly. Guides to wearing honours and awards consistently state the positioning of a neck badge should be suspended by a miniature length of the order's riband, passing approximately one centimetre below the knot of a tie (if in a suit), or bow (if in black or white tie).

The regulations for wearing neck badges of orders in uniform differ slightly, depending on the order of dress given for the occasion in question. In all three services, if wearing service dress (comprising a conventional straight tie), the positioning of the highest neck badge to be worn on the day, is the same for civilian attire (approximately one centimetre below the tie knot). If the person in question holds additional honours comprising neck badges, they are worn suspended through the button holes of the jacket in order of seniority, allowing approximately one centimetre of the miniature length riband to be visible.

For those orders of dress where the jacket is fastened underneath the chin with a high collar, rather than the neck badge being worn suspended beneath the tie knot (which would be absent in this instance), the neck badge is worn hanging through the collar opening, again suspended on a miniature sized length of riband, protruding approximately one centimetre from the collar opening.

There is no provision for the neck insignia of an order to be worn in place of a tie, where a tie would otherwise be worn. Nor is there provision for the wearing of insignia apart from occasions requiring uniform, evening wear, or suit (lounge or morning). I hope that helps.

 

[StyleObsessed]

Even Beckham wearing his OBE with morning suit at W&C's wedding was wrong plus he wore it on the wrong side.

You'd think he'd be able to afford to pay someone to give him advice on how to do these things

 

[Mbruno]

Not exactly a medal, but Princess Leonor was wearing her bow insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece today during a ceremony where King Felipe VI awarded the Order of Civil Merit to 41 Spanish citizens.


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D9as8JNWsAAbnBz.jpg


Unlike other royal decorations, the Order of the Golden Fleece does not have a sash or a star. The insignia of the order are only the collar (which is fully coated in gold and one of the most expensive of its kind) and the knight's neck insignia or , equivalently, the dame's ribbon insignia. I noticed, however, that King Felipe VI wears two types of sovereign's neck insignia: a bigger one, which he normally wears to state dinners in Spain (together with the sash of the Order of Carlos III or a foreign sash), and a smaller one, as the one he wore at the state dinner at Buckingham Palace with the sash of the Order of the Garter. Is this smaller necklace Fleece the same that he wears pinned on his chest with business suits as seen in the picture above, or is the latter an even smaller (miniature) one ?


I would appreciate if the experts on Spanish orders and decorations here could clarify.



EDIT: The clips below show the two different necklace Fleeces I was referring to above.


King Felipe VI at the Chinese state dinner in Madrid (with the "bigger" Fleece):

King Felipe VI at the state dinner at Buckingham Palace (with the smaller necklace insignia):