Portuguese Victory Medal Collection

[VonRiver]

Hi to all.,

I'm going to share some Portuguese WW1 Victory Medals (Medalhas da Victória Portuguesa) of my collection with you all, hoping you'll enjoy it.

Best Regards.,

Von River

[VonRiver]

The Portuguese Victory Medal (Medalha da Victória Portuguesa):

The creation of an Inter-Allied Victory medal, was in January 24, 1919 at the Peace Conference after the approval of the French marshal Ferdinand Foch idea and proposal, so that all combatants of the Great War receive the same commemorative medal to maintain the feeling of the eternal companionship that all the allies had on the battlefields of the Great War.

Its creation was agreed by all Allies after the victory in the World War I. The ribbon was identical for all Countries and was in charge of each Country the drawings of the medal.

The medal was adopted by United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Siam, Union of South Africa and the USA in accordance with the decision as taken at the lnter-Allied Peace Conference at Versailles.

The Portuguese Victory Medal (Medalha da Victória Portuguesa) was created and legislated on 30 October 1919 by the Decree No. 6:186 (Decreto Lei 6:186). In 1921 on April 25, revised by Decree No. 7:464 (Decreto Lei 7:464), where the design of the reverse of the Victory medal is changed, changing what initially stipulated by the allied nations.

The Portuguese Victory Medal was awarded according the Decree No. 6:186 (Decreto Lei 6:186) to all Portuguese military personnel deployed for World War I, including the military integrated into the C.E.P. (Portuguese Expeditionary Corps) in France, the combatants in the Portuguese Africa in the defense of the Portuguese overseas territory, and at the sea.

[VonRiver]

The Portuguese Victory Medal (Medalha da Victória Portuguesa):

The Victory Medal Obverse:

The obverse have a winged figure of Victory, with the flower of Peace in the right hand, and a crown of laurel in the left hand.



The Victory Medal Reverse:

The reverse have the legend MEDALHA DA VITORIA (Victory Medal), with the Portuguese National Emblem, accompanied by the representation of the Portuguese War Cross, in this type of Victory Medal we have five representations.



The Portuguese Victory Medal was designed by the Master Sculptor Mr. João da Silva (1880-1960), born in Lisbon on December 1, 1880.

More informations about Mr. João da Silva on the following link:
https://sigarra.up.pt/up/en/web_base...o%20da%20silva

[VonRiver]

The ribbon has an iridescent color scheme (rainbow), with the violet moving through to a central red stripe where both schemes meet, that IMO it’s the representation of all colors of all allied flags.

[VonRiver]

In some Potuguese Victory Medals, can be seen on the ribbon a "Silver Star" which means that the combatant was in "Close Combat" on the front lines.

[VonRiver]

Portuguese Victory Medal Types:

According to the Mr. Alexander J. Laslo book "The Inter Allied Victory Medals of World War 1", can be classified in several types and in official and unofficial.

About the material in which they are made, in addition to bronze, silver and golden may also appear, being rarer than the bronze.

[VonRiver]

A sample of an Portuguese Victory Medal with a silver star on the ribbon:

[VonRiver]

You can see an close up of the medal obverse and reverse to see the details of the drawing:

Obverse close up:



Reverse close up:

[VonRiver]

Other sample of an Portuguese Victory Medal with a silver star on the ribbon that I have in my collection:



The front close up:



The back close up:



The close up of the silver star on the ribbon:

[VonRiver]

Other sample of an Portuguese Victory Medal without a silver star on the ribbon that I have in my collection:



The front close up:



The back close up:



The clasp on the ribbon close up: