The Cross for Courage and Fidelity is a military award that was established by Queen Emma of the Netherlands by Royal Decree on 7 March 1898. The cross replaced the old Medal for Courage and Fidelity, which had limited prestige and status according to the Netherlands government. The cross is the second highest award of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, preceded only by the Military William Order. The cross was awarded to (and is still worn by) natives of the Netherlands East Indies that showed exceptional display of bravery and fidelity.
The cross has a resemblance to the Military William Order and is worn with the same ribbon as that order. The shape of the cross itself is somewhat different in the sense that the cross and crown are made of non-enamelled silver. On the cross of the Military William Order a gold spark rod is shown in the middle. However, on the cross for Courage and Fidelity, a heraldic Dutch Lion is shown. Between the arms of this cross two klewangs are added. The text on the cross has the description "VOOR MOED EN TROUW" (English: for Courage and Fidelity) and at the back "Daden van Moed en Trouw in Nederlands-Indië door inlanders betoond" (English: Deeds of Courage and Fidelity in the Netherlands East Indies by natives awarded). Between the crown and cross is a spark rod, a distinguishing mark of the Order of the Golden Fleece or the Military William Order.
The Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies was authorized to award the cross. A total of 262 bronze and 13 silver crosses have been awarded, most of them in 1925. The last cross was awarded in 1927; after that natives and native soldiers of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army were also eligible to receive the Military William Order.
Those recipients who lost the cross during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia could receive a new cross but without an emblazoned crown.
Read more about Cross For Courage And Fidelity: Criticism, See Also, External Links
Famous quotes containing the words cross for, cross, courage and/or fidelity:
“It was mankind that hung on the cross for two thousand years: and a terrible god practiced his cruelty and called it “love.””
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“We are no longer in a state of growth; we are in a state of excess. We are living in a society of excrescence.... The boil is growing out of control, recklessly at cross purposes with itself, its impacts multiplying as the causes disintegrate.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)