Marumo Medal, Class I
TypeMilitary decoration for merit
Country Bophuthatswana
Presented bythe State President
StatusDiscontinued in 1994
Established1988
Ribbon bar
BDF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear
Next (higher)
BDF precedence:
SANDF precedence:
Next (lower)
BDF succession:
SANDF succession:

The Marumo Medal, Class I was instituted by the State President of the Republic of Bophuthatswana in 1988.[1][2]

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) was established upon that country's independence on 6 December 1977. The Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and the Bophuthatswana Defence Force was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).[3][4][5]

Institution

The Marumo Medal, Class I was instituted by the State President of Bophuthatswana in 1988. It is the senior award of a set of two, along with the Marumo Medal, Class II.[1]

"Marumo" can be translated as "fight" or "fighting", adopted into SeTswana from a command used by Shaka Zulu.

Award criteria

The medal could be awarded for merit in action.

Order of wear

Main article: South African military decorations order of wear § Order of wear

Since the Marumo Medal, Class I was authorised for wear by one of the statutory forces which came to be part of the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, it was accorded a position in the official South African order of precedence on that date. The position of the Marumo Medal, Class I in the official order of precedence was revised twice after 1994, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first in April 1996, when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003.[1][6]

Bophuthatswana Defence Force until 26 April 1994

Defence Force Merit Medal Marumo Medal, Class I Defence Force Commendation Medal

South African National Defence Force from 27 April 1994

Sandile Medal (SM) Marumo Medal, Class I Danie Theron Medal (DTM)

South African National Defence Force from April 1996

Sandile Medal (SM) Marumo Medal, Class I Merit Medal in Silver (MMS)

The position of the Marumo Medal, Class I in the order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was in April 1996, when a new series of military orders, decorations and medals was instituted in South Africa on 27 April 2003.[1]

Description

Obverse

The Marumo Medal, Class I is a silver-gilt medallion, 38 millimetres in diameter and 3 millimetres thick at the rim, with an encircled gold cross in a square in the centre, surrounded by eight red enameled triangles, the whole depicting four red-tipped arrows arranged as a cross.[7]

Reverse

The reverse has the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Bophuthatswana.

Ribbon

The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide, with a 2 millimetres wide green band, a 9 millimetres wide dark blue band, a 1 millimetre wide green band, a 1 millimetre wide dark blue band and a 2½ millimetres wide dark red band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 1 millimetre wide green band in the centre.[7]

Discontinuation

Conferment of the Marumo Medal, Class I was discontinued when the Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, OCLC 72827981
  2. ^ Republic of Bophuthatswana Constitution Act, 1977
  3. ^ South Africa Homeland Militaries, May 1996 (Accessed 1 May 2015)
  4. ^ Peled, Alon (1998), A Question of Loyalty: Military Manpower Policy in Multiethnic States, Cornell Studies in Security Affairs, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 50f, ISBN 0-8014-3239-1
  5. ^ a b Warrant of the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of the "UNITAS MEDAL-UNITAS-MEDALJE", Gazette no. 16087 dated 25 November 1994.
  6. ^ Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993
  7. ^ a b Uniform: SA Army: Former Forces Medals - Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF)
Categories