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| Orders and Medals Research Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Orders and Medals Research Society |
| Formation | 1939 |
| Type | Learned society |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Region served | International |
| Language | English |
Orders and Medals Research Society is an international learned society dedicated to the study of orders, decorations and medals with emphasis on historical provenance, design, manufacture and awarding practices. It brings together collectors, historians, curators and researchers connected to subjects such as Victoria Cross, Order of the Garter, Legion of Honour, Iron Cross, Order of Lenin, Medal of Honor, Order of Australia, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Order of the British Empire and many other state, dynastic and campaign awards.
Founded in 1939, the society emerged amid contemporary interests influenced by events such as World War I, World War II, British Empire, Russian Revolution and the study of awards like the Military Medal, Distinguished Service Order, Croix de Guerre and Pour le Mérite. Early figures associated with medal scholarship drew on comparative work involving collections tied to institutions such as the British Museum, Imperial War Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Hermitage Museum and private archives relating to the Napoleonic Wars, Crimean War and Boer War. Over decades the society has navigated changes in provenance research prompted by legal frameworks such as the Treasure Act 1996 and international conventions including the 1954 Hague Convention.
Membership comprises amateurs and professionals from constituencies connected to British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, United States Army, Soviet Union Armed Forces, French Army, Prussian Army and other national services, as well as curators from institutions like the National Army Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Musée de l'Armée and State Historical Museum. Organizational structures include an elected council, editorial committees and specialist study sections reflecting interests in topics such as the Order of St John, Order of the Thistle, Order of Isabella the Catholic, Order of the Rising Sun and the study of campaign medals from Falklands War to Korean War. Members publish research on awards related to figures like Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Tsar Nicholas II, George V, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel.
The society issues periodicals, monographs and specialist catalogues covering subjects including the Victoria Cross, George Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Nazi Party, Confederate States of America, Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and medallic art from workshops like the Royal Mint and the Monnaie de Paris. Publications document provenance, maker marks and award citations linking to archives such as the National Archives (UK), Library of Congress, Bundesarchiv, Archives Nationales (France) and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. Research spans case studies on awards to individuals like Lawrence of Arabia, Florence Nightingale, T. E. Lawrence, Boris Yeltsin, Winston Churchill and Admiral Horatio Nelson and technical studies involving engraving, enamelling and medal dies from firms such as Birmingham Mint.
Annual meetings, specialist seminars and international congresses convene members with interests in Order of Saint Vladimir, Order of St. Andrew, Order of Merit, Order of the Polar Star, Legion of Merit and campaign studies of Peninsular War, Spanish Civil War, World War II, Vietnam War and modern peacekeeping operations. Conferences feature presentations on topics such as award precedent, legal restitution, collecting ethics and display practices involving curators from the Royal Armouries, Australian War Memorial, Canadian War Museum and scholars of figures like Sir Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Tsar Alexander III and Mahatma Gandhi.
The society maintains and promotes access to catalogs, photographic archives and specimen databases that complement holdings at the British Museum, Imperial War Museum, Royal Collection Trust, Victoria and Albert Museum, Smithsonian Institution and regional collections in Australia, Canada, India and South Africa. Special collections include studies of awards connected to the Battle of Waterloo, Charge of the Light Brigade, Gallipoli campaign, Somme, Dunkirk evacuation and decorations issued by dynasties such as the Habsburgs, Romanovs, Ottomans and Hohenzollerns.
The society confers prizes and recognition for excellence in scholarship, cataloguing and conservation of medals, often honoring work on decorated individuals such as Albert Ball, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Hillary, T. E. Lawrence and Florence Nightingale. Awards encourage research into provenance, restitution cases tied to events like Nazi looting and publications that advance standards used by museums including the National Portrait Gallery and Musée de l'Armée.
The society collaborates with international institutions including the British Museum, Imperial War Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Monnaie de Paris, Bundeswehr, Australian War Memorial, Canadian War Museum and academic departments at universities such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of London, Harvard University and University of Toronto. Its influence extends to exhibition loans, cataloguing standards, provenance research in restitution disputes and advisory roles in projects relating to figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Victoria, Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Category:Learned societies Category:Orders, decorations, and medals