Rosette (decoration)

Rosette (decoration)

A rosette /roʊˈzɛt/ is a small, circular device that is presented with a medal. The rosettes are primarily for situations where wearing the medal is deemed inappropriate. Rosettes are issued in nations such as France, Italy and Japan. Rosettes are also sometimes called bowknots, due to their shape.

Moreover, a large rosette is sometimes pinned onto the ribbon which suspends a medal, usually the Officer (and sometimes Grand Officer)'s badge of certain Orders of Chivalry.

Some small lapel rosettes are worn in the same manner as lapel pins. Knights of the Order of the British Empire now wear a lapel rosette bearing the order's cross in the center, whereas previously this was a purely metallic lapel pin. While a metal lapel pin mounted on a silk rosette is considered a decoration, this is not always true of a metal emblem lacking the ribbon backing.