Order of the Medjidie

Medjidie or Mejidie (Turkish: Mecidiye) is the name of a military and knightly order of the Ottoman Empire, and also of a gold or silver Turkish coin, worth twenty piastres. The coin was first struck in 1844, and was widely circulated in Saudi Arabia. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdülmecid I.

Order of the Medjidie

Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in five classes, with the First Class being the highest. The Order was issued in considerable numbers by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I as a reward for distinguished service to members of the British Army and the Royal Navy and the French Army who came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War against Russia. In Britain it was worn after any British gallantry and campaign medals awarded, but before the Turkish Crimean War medal. The Order was usually conferred on officers but a few enlisted soldiers also received it in a lower class. During World War I it was also awarded to a number of German and Austrian officers.

The Order was often conferred on non-Turkish nationals.

Design of the Order

On the obverse of the star is Sultan Abdul Mejid's royal cipher surrounded by an inscription on a gold-bordered circle of red enamel; all on a star of seven triple quills with small crescents and five-pointed stars between them, suspended from a red enameled crescent and star suspender with green enameled edges.

References

• The Americana, Vol.15, Ed. Frederick Converse Beach, George Edwin Rines, 1912.

External links

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)