Cross of Honour of the Society for the Encouragement of Devotion to Service

Cross of Honour of the Society for the Encouragement of Devotion to Service (Croix d’Honneur de la Société d’Encouragement au Devouement)

Green and white enamel and silver-gilt Maltese cross, the arms with green enamel chevron-pattered inlaid panels, with laurel wreath and crossed ball-tipped rods between the arms, on elaborate suspension in the form of an adult and three young pelicans, the adult feeding the young by plucking from its breast; the face with a circular central gilt medallion bearing a female head facing left and wearing a laurel-wreathed helmet crowned with a cockerel, representative of the French Republic, encircled by a white enamel ring inscribed ‘SOCIÉTÉ D’ENCOURAGEMENT AU DEVOUEMENT’; the reverse identical; assay mark on the reverse of the suspension; on original ribbon. The Society was founded in 1910 as the ‘Société Républicaine d’Encouragement au Devouement’ with the aim of giving an example of devotion to duty and public service, to defend moral values and promote initiatives to encourage bravery, service and altruism and especially the defence of the vulnerable, particularly young people. It awards honorific decorations to recognise accomplishments in these areas. The Society later became the ‘Société d’Encouragement au Devouement’, then the ‘Société Nationale d’Encouragement au Devouement’ and finally ‘Encouragement au Devouement’.