Design
The medal has the shape of an old Dutch fortresses in the style that was introduced in the late 17th century by the Dutch fortress builder Menno van Coehoorn. The moat of the hexagonal fortresses has been reflected in blue emaille. In the middle of the depicted fortresses the symbols of three of the four branches of the Netherlands armed forces are displayed. These are the "climbing lion with sword and arrows" of the Royal Netherlands Army, the "anchor" of the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the "flying eagle" of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The "burning grenade", the symbol of the fourth branch, the Royal Marechaussee, is lacking. On the reverse side, the words "KONINKRIJK DER NEDERLANDEN" (English: Kingdom of the Netherlands) and "MINISTER VAN DEFENSIE" (English: Minister of Defence) are engraved in a circle.
The medal is worn with a Nassau blue ribbon that has narrow red and white borders. Recipients may wear a ribbon bar at their uniform with the same composition (although on the ribbon bar of the golden medal a golden palm branch is added).
Read more about this topic: Decoration Of Merit
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“Westerners inherit
A design for living
Deeper into matter—
Not without due patter
Of a great misgiving.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Humility is often only the putting on of a submissiveness by which men hope to bring other people to submit to them; it is a more calculated sort of pride, which debases itself with a design of being exalted; and though this vice transform itself into a thousand several shapes, yet the disguise is never more effectual nor more capable of deceiving the world than when concealed under a form of humility.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“You can make as good a design out of an American turkey as a Japanese out of his native stork.”
—For the State of Illinois, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)