Item number: M557-6

Reference number: Borna Barac#239

Year: AD 1908-1944

Material: Gold, Silver, Enamel

Provenance:

1. Leu Numismatik 2025

2. Reza Najafi Collection

This is a miniature breast star of the Bulgarian National Order of Civil Merit (Bulgarian: Народен орден „За гражданска заслуга“), officially instituted on 2 August AD 1891 by Prince (later Tsar) Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. At its inception, the order was established to recognise distinguished individuals who rendered eminent service to the Bulgarian Crown and the State, primarily conferring distinction upon Bulgarian citizens and foreign nationals who made significant contributions in public administration, the judiciary, diplomacy, science, culture, education, charity, and public welfare. In accordance with the official statutes and award regulations, state civil servants were generally eligible for nomination only after ten years of continuous, diligent, and irreproachable service; exceptions to this rule were granted solely for extraordinary, distinguished merit or signal services rendered to the Sovereign and the nation.

The principal element of the insignia comprises a white-enamelled cross with pointed extremities (cross urdy) edged in gilt or silver, with three-dimensional oak sprays bearing gilt acorns set between the four arms. The obverse centre features a circular medallion of translucent red enamel, which on full-sized insignia is inset with the gilt royal monogram of the founder, Ferdinand I. It is encircled by a white-enamelled annulus, on full-sized pieces inscribed in gilt Cyrillic lettering with “ЗА ГРАЖДАНСКА ЗАСЛУГА” (meaning “For Civil Merit”). The cross is superimposed upon an eight-pointed silver faceted star plaque, whereas the original full-sized Grand Cross insignia features alternating clusters of gold and silver. The reverse is plain.

The reverse medallion is likewise executed in red enamel, depicting a gilt lion rampant emblematic of the Bulgarian state coat of arms, surrounded by a white-enamelled ring inscribed “2 АВГУСТЪ 1891 ГОДИНА”, marking the foundation date of the order as 2 August AD 1891. The badge is suspended from a Bulgarian royal crown lined with red enamel.

Both the Grand Cross and Grand Officer classes are accompanied by breast stars pinned to the left breast, featuring the cross superimposed on multi-rayed plaques composed of alternating gold and silver clusters or all-silver faceted rays, respectively. The statutory ribbon of the order incorporates the Bulgarian national tricolour of white, green, and red, and was frequently folded into a triangular ribbon in accordance with the Austrian tradition when worn with formal dress.

Following the Russo-Turkish War of AD 1877–1878 and the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin in AD 1878, Bulgaria became a relatively autonomous principality under Ottoman suzerainty. The Tarnovo Constitution was one of the most liberal fundamental laws of its era and, as a consequence, strictly prohibited the creation of titles of nobility and peacetime civil decorations, permitting only military distinctions for wartime valour. However, as the central governmental apparatus matured and diplomatic engagements intensified, Prince Alexander I and Prince Ferdinand I exercised their princely prerogatives to circumvent these treaty and constitutional limitations, progressively establishing a national honours system. Heavily influenced during its state-building and military development by the Russian Empire, the German states, France, and Austria-Hungary, the Bulgarian honours system not only drew upon traditional European chivalric orders in its heraldic designs, but also commissioned many insignia directly from court jewellers in Vienna and elsewhere. The foundation of the Order of Civil Merit by Ferdinand I in AD 1891 was intended specifically to introduce a comprehensive national award to honour civil governance and peacetime social progress alongside existing military and general orders.

The order comprised six regular classes, arranged in descending hierarchy as Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, Knight (or Chevalier), and Silver Cross, with the fifth and sixth classes further subdivided into versions with or without a crown depending on merit and official standing. Additionally, the system included a special Great Cross reserved for the sovereign, as well as a separate three-class Ladies’ Cross conferred upon women. The official regulations established a strict correlation between civil service grades and the maximum or minimum class of the order that could be awarded, and mandated a statutory interval of at least five years between successive honours conferred on the same individual, barring exceptional services. Upon promotion to a higher class, recipients were required to return the insignia of the lower class to the Chancellery of Bulgarian Orders; likewise, following the death of an awardee, the physical insignia had to be returned by the heirs, who were permitted to retain only the award diploma.

This honours system served as monarchical Bulgaria’s pre-eminent civilian distinction until the abolition of the monarchy in AD 1946. During the transitional phase of the early Republic, the crown suspension was replaced by a botanical wreath, and the obverse royal monogram was superseded by an uncrowned lion, before the entire royal phaleristic system was completely supplanted by Soviet-style state awards in the early AD 1950s. The exiled last Tsar, Simeon II, retained his de jure status as Grand Master of the royal order according to dynastic tradition, and when the Republic of Bulgaria restructured its national honours system in AD 2003, it reinstituted the Order of Civil Merit by statute, thereby maintaining the continuity of this historic honour.

物件編號: M557-6

參考書目編號: Borna Barac#239

年代: 公元 1908-1944 年

材質: 黃金、銀、琺瑯

來源:

1. Leu Numismatik 2025

2. 雷扎·納加菲舊藏

這是一枚保加利亞國家民事功績勳章（Народен орден „За гражданска заслуга“）的迷你版星章，由保加利亞大公（後為沙皇）斐迪南一世於公元1891年8月2日正式設立。該勳章創立之初，旨在表彰對保加利亞王室與國家立下卓越功勳的各界人士，主要獎勵在政府行政、司法、外交、科學、文教、慈善及公共事業中做出重大貢獻的保加利亞公民及外國人士。依據官方頒授規章，國家文職官員通常需在崗位上連續、勤勉且無瑕疵地服務滿十年方具備推薦資格，僅在具有非凡傑出功績或對王室與國家提供重大貢獻時始得破格獲頒。

該勳章主體為金邊或銀邊勾勒的白色琺瑯尖尾十字，四臂夾角間飾有帶金色橡實的立體橡樹枝葉。正面中央為圓形紅色透光琺瑯圓盤，原章中心嵌有創立者斐迪南一世的金色皇家花押。外圈為白色琺瑯環，原章鐫有金色西里爾字母「ЗА ГРАЖДАНСКА ЗАСЛУГА」，即「為了民事功績」。底部則襯以銀色的八角星芒，原章為金銀相間。背面光素。

大十字級與大軍官級均配有襟綬星章別於左胸，分別由金銀交錯或全銀的多角放射線星芒襯托十字主體。勳章的法定綬帶採用保加利亞國旗的白、綠、紅三色紋帶，在日常禮服佩戴時亦常依循奧地利傳統折疊為三角綬帶。

公元1878年俄土戰爭後，由於《柏林條約》的簽訂，保加利亞成為鄂圖曼土耳其勢力範圍內，相對自治的親王國。其《特爾諾沃憲法》在當時是最符合自由主義的憲法之一，也因此嚴格限制貴族頭銜與一般榮譽勳位的設立，僅容許戰時戰功章。隨著中央政府體制逐步集權與完善，加以外交往來頻繁，亞歷山大一世與斐迪南一世開始透過大公特權突破條約與憲法限制，逐步構建本土榮譽體系。由於保加利亞在建國與建軍初期深受俄羅斯帝國、德意志諸邦、法國與奧匈帝國的多重影響，其勳章不僅在紋章形態上汲取了歐洲騎士團傳統，許多實物亦直接委託維也納等地的宮廷珠寶商製造。斐迪南一世於公元1891年創立民事功績勳章，正是為了在既有的軍事與綜合勳章之外，專門建立一套表彰和平時期文職治理與社會建設的國家獎勵機制。

該勳章共設有六個正規等級，由高至低依次為大十字級、大軍官級、指揮官級、軍官級、騎士級以及銀十字級，其中第五、六級依功績與身份又細分為帶王冠或無王冠版本，體系內還額外設有專門授予女性的三級女性十字，君主本人則有另設的特等大十字級。官方規章對各級官員獲頒的最高與最低階級建立了嚴密的對應標準，除特殊重大功勳外，獲勳者兩次受勳之間必須間隔五年以上。獲勳者若日後晉升更高階級，需將原持有的較低等級章體交還宮廷勳章局，受勳者去世後其家屬亦須繳回勳章實物，僅得永久留存授勳證書。

該獎勳制度在君主制的保加利亞長期作為最重要的文職榮譽制度運作，直至公元1946年君主制遭到廢除。在共和初期過渡階段，勳章頂部的王冠被改為植物花環，正面的皇家花押亦被去除王冠的雄獅圖案取代，隨後在公元1950年代初隨整體王國勳位體系一併被蘇聯式榮譽制度全面替代。流亡海外的末代沙皇西美昂二世依傳統仍保留該勳章大團長的法理身份，而保加利亞共和國在公元2003年重組國家榮譽制度時，亦重新立法設立了同名的民事功績勳章，使這一榮勳得以延續。