A2QFI: “As a 'civilian' I do not need the Queen, or anyone else's permission, to wear a foreign decoration”
Sadly, Nick, the rules regarding awards are about as comprehensible as Gordon Brown’s statistics; the Sir Humphreys are well involved in medal meddling.
It seems that the acceptability of a “foreign” medal is determined by HM the Queen and that a Government Body known as the Honours and Decorations Committee guides her in these matters. To complicate things further, approval to WEAR such decorations is quite separate from approval to ACCEPT them.
A case in point is the Pingat Jasa Malaysia (Malaysian Service Medal). The King of Malaysia offered this decoration to British and Commonwealth service personnel and civilians who served in Malaysia between 1957 and 1966. HM was pleased to approve that the medal be accepted by all concerned, but the British HD Committee’s recommendation, peculiarly, was that British citizens could accept the medal but they would not be allowed to wear it; the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, however, accepted the medal without restriction for their citizens.
The on-going lobby to overcome this anomaly is documented at:
www.fight4thepjm.org/index.htm
Last edited by NutherA2; 27th Mar 2007 at 15:34.