Honour Badge of Labour

Honour Badge of Labour
Honour Badge of Labour (1948-63 variant)
Awarded by Kingdom of Belgium
Type	Labour award
Eligibility	Workers employed in Belgium
Awarded for	Especially meritorious work, skills and commitment to a profession
Status	Active
Statistics
Established	12 November 1948

The Honour Badge of Labour (Dutch: Ereteken van de Arbeid, French: Insigne d'Honneur du Travail) is a Belgian award aiming at rewarding especially meritorious workers for their skills and commitment to their profession. It is awarded by Royal Decree on a proposal from the Royal Institute of the Elites of Labour (Koninklijk Instituut der Eliten van de Arbeid in Dutch, Institut Royal des Elites du Travail in French). The award was officially created in 1948 on the basis of earlier badges awarded to meritorious workers during labour fairs as early as 1847.

Classes

The Honour Badge of Labour is issued in five classes:

The title of Honour Dean of Labour, awarded by their peers to a limited number of exceptionally noteworthy individuals between forty-five and sixty-five, practicing their profession for at least twenty years, and embodying the values, traditions and moral and social prestige of their profession. The Honour Deans of Labour are the representatives of their profession for a period of five years after they are awarded the title.
The Gold Honour Badge of Labour, awarded to workers having been awarded the Silver Badge at least five years earlier, having a recognized professional competence, and actively involved in the social and professional development of their profession, such as leading training programmes or trade unions.
The Silver Honour Badge of Labour, awarded to workers having been awarded the Bronze Badge at least five years earlier, having proven their willingness to broaden their professional qualifications and to anticipate the evolutions of their profession, and contributing to well-being in the workplace.
The Bronze Honour Badge of Labour, awarded to workers older than thirty having proven their skills in the daily performance of their profession during more than ten or fifteen years (depending on the profession) and having demonstrated a commitment to professional and personal development.
The Star of Cadet of Labour, awarded to workers younger than thirty having worked for at least three years and showing early signs of dedication to their profession.

The award of the Honour Badge of Labour also grants the awardee the title of Laureate of Labour (Laureaat van de Arbeid in Dutch, Lauréat du Travail in French).

Insignia

The ribbon of the Honour Badge of Labour is dark brown (to represent the earth) with one thin vertical orange stripe on each side (representing fire). In addition, the ribbon of the Silver Badge has a thin silver stripe on the inside of each orange stripe. This stripe is gold for the ribbon of the Gold Badge.

The insignia of the Honour Badge of Labour shows a vertical hammer with one ear of corn on each side enamelled in black, yellow and red, and topped by a royal crown, which is bronze, silver of gold depending on the class of the award.

The Honour Deans of Labour wear a collar the color of the ribbon and adorned with golden badges showing a lion's face. The insignia suspended from the collar is a hammer enamelled in red and black with two ears of corn forming the letter "A" for King Albert I.

The Star of Cadet of Labour is an enamelled pin shaped as a five-pointed star showing an anvil and topped with a royal crown.

Award Procedure

Ever year, the Royal Institute of the Elites of Labour selects a number of professional sectors within which the Honour Badge of Labour will be awarded to meritorious workers, and defines sector-specific conditions to receive the award. Individuals within those sectors may submit an application to the Institute, with a file demonstrating compliance with the award criteria and two commendation letters from co-workers (including, if applicable, the candidate's supervisor). On the basis of the application, the Institute decides if the candidate deserves the award. The Badge of Honour is awarded in a public ceremony.

About five professional sectors are selected every year by the Institute, on a rotational basis, from a total of more than one hundred, such as lace makers, butchers, bakers, opticians or members of military aviation.

References

Decree of the Regent from 12 November 1948 defining the insignas of the Honour Badge of Labour
Royal Decree of 31 July 1954 creating the Royal Institute of the Elites of Labour
Royal Institute of the Elites of Labour, 1954-2004: Fifty Years of Activity, March 2008 edition
André Borné, Honneur au travail: Distinctions honorifiques pour les travailleurs 1830-1980, Brussels, 1982
Quinot H., 1950, Recueil illustré des décorations belges et congolaises, 4e Edition. (Hasselt)
Cornet R., 1982, Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges. 2e Ed. N.pl., (Brussels)
Borné A.C., 1985, Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830-1985 (Brussels)

External links

The Royal Institute of the Elites of Labor

Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium

Current orders	Order of Leopold Order of the Crown Order of Leopold II

Formerly awarded orders (dormant)	Order of the African Star Royal Order of the Lion

Pre 1914 war medals and decorations	Civic Guard Merit Medal 1830 Star of Honour Iron Cross 1830 Volunteers' Commemorative Cross 1870–71 Commemorative Medal

1914–1918 war medals and decorations	Croix de guerre 1914–18 Fire Cross 1914–1918 Yser Medal Yser Cross Volunteer Combatant's Medal 1914–1918 1914–1918 Commemorative War Medal 1914–1917 African Campaigns Commemorative Medal Liège Medal Maritime Decoration 1914–1918 Political Prisoner's Medal 1914–1918 Deportees' Cross 1914–1918 1914–1918 Medal for National Restoration King Albert Medal Queen Elisabeth Medal Inter-Allied Victory Medal 1914–1918 Civic Decoration 1914–1918 Commemorative Medal of the National Committee for Aid and Food

1940–1945 war medals and decorations	Croix de guerre 1940–45 Maritime Medal 1940–1945 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal Volunteer's Medal 1940–1945 1940–1945 African War Medal 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal Abyssinian Campaigns Commemorative Medal Resistance Medal 1940–1945 Civilian Resistance Medal Civilian Disobedience Medal Political Prisoner's Cross 1940–1945 Prisoner of War Medal 1940–1945 Escapees' Cross 1940–1945 Medal for Resistance against Nazism in the Annexed Territories Medal of the Recruiting Centers 1940 Medal of Belgian Gratitude 1940–1945 Commemorative Medal of the War 1940–1945 Civic Decoration 1940–1945

Post 1945 war medals and decorations	Foreign Operational Theatres Commemorative Medal War Volunteer's Medal

Current military awards	Military Cross Military Decoration Croix de guerre (post-1954) Cross of Honour for Military Service Abroad Commemorative Medal for Armed Humanitarian Operations Medal for Services Rendered Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions Medal for Military Merit Commemorative Medal for the "European March of Memory and Friendship" "Four Days of the Yser" Commemorative Medal

Current civilian awards	Civic Decoration Honour Badge of Labour Labour Decoration Decoration for Mutuality

Commemorative medals	Commemorative Decoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Creation of the Railroads Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Leopold II Commemorative Medal for the 75th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service Centenary of National Independence Commemorative Medal Commemorative Medal for the Centenary of the Telegraphic Service Commemorative Medal for the 100th Anniversary of the Belgian Postal Service Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Albert I

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