Page:The Book of Orders of Knighthood and Decorations of Honour of All Nations.djvu/114

56 THE ROYAL LOUIS ORDER.

'Für ehrenvolle fünfzig Dienst-jahre' (For honourable service of fifty years), is the inscription upon the reverse of the Cross, impressed in golden letters upon white ground within a green enamelled laurel wreath—thus plainly indicating the object of the founder. It was created on the 25th August, 1827 (the date is given in the four corners of the reverse). The obverse bears the effigy and crown of the King in gold upon a white enamelled ground, while in the four corners of the Cross are the words: 'Ludwig König von Baiern' (Louis King of Bavaria) (Plate 14, Tab. IV. Nos. 27 and 28). The fifty years service required may have been spent partly or wholly in the service of the court, government, war department, or in the church of the country, or its incorporated provinces. For officers, the years of campaign count double, while those spent in inactive service count for nothing. The decoration is only conferred on individuals who bear the title of Counsellor. For those of lower rank, the badge consists of a gold medal (Plate 15, Tab. V. No. 30) with the same inscription as the Cross. Both are worn at the button-hole, suspended by a crimson ribbon with sky blue borders. The ribbon of the Cross is somewhat broader than that of the medal.

THE ST. MICHAEL ORDER OF MERIT.

This Order is one of those the objects and statutes of which have undergone manifold modifications in process of time. Its founder, Joseph Clemens, Elector of Cologne and Duke of Bavaria, introduced it on the 29th September, 1693, as a