The Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the United Arab Emirates
by Owain Raw-Rees
Like any medals enthusiast, when Owain Raw-Rees found that work had taken him to the Middle East he looked for information about the local awards... and was rather surprised to find that there wasn't any! This work is the result of his research both 'in country' amd in the archives of Fattorini and Spinks, who between them have designed and manufactured most of the insignia of the United Arab Emirates. This has resulted in a high level of detail and fascinating insights into the design processes behind the awards of both the United Arab Emirates and the constituent Emirates which, it transpires, have continued to develop and award their own honours as well as those of the UAE.
Sarting with a brief outline of what honours and awards are and why they are awarded, with specific reference to how they developed in the Middle East, the detailed and profusely illustrated text begins with an analysis of the medals of the Trucial Oman Scouts and its successor organisations the Union Defence Force and the Federak Arned Force. Everything is presented in context, for example, there's an extensive discussion of Trucial Oman Scouts badges, which feature on their medals. Arabic inscriptions are not only translated, there are fascinating discussions as to the 'intent' of the wording, e.g., when a literal translation might read 'devotion' it may be that a more accurate translation might be 'loyalty'.
The next section deals with the civil awards of the United Arab Emirates. This begins with the High Order of the House of Nahyan, instituted in 1969 with the first insignia created as a rush job due to an impending State Visit to the United Kingdom. The first insignia was hand-crafted by a master goldsmith called James Miller - who is, as it happens, an old friend of mine who told me this story and provided me with images of his work for my website! Subseqently, insignia was made using steel dies, which give a crisper impression. A dizzying array of beautiful civil honours is followed by the UAE's military orders, decorations, and medals... and there are a lot of these! Throughout, it's fascinating to see how an award is developed from initial thoughts supplied to final design artwork and trial pieces to the finished award ready to be presented to recipients. Next up are the awards of the UAE Ministry of the Interior... mostly medals for the police.
We then move on to the orders, decorations, and medals of the constituent emirates, beginning with Abu Dhabi and continuing with Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah (which, unlike the others, has but one medal!), Ras Al Khaima, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain. These are followed by miscellaneous UAE awards including those of the Red Crescent and ones conferred for social work and charitable activities. There's a list of other civic awards that do not involve medals, and finally, the awards of the Gulf Cooperation Council, an organisation linking the UAE with other Gulf States (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) to coordinate economic, political, security, and cultural affairs.
This is a fantastically detailed work which should grace the shelves of anyone interested in the awards of the Middle East, whilst the illustrations are a feast for those who delight in images of awards. As Owain put it when announcing this book's publication, "the book will fill up the UAE part of your website!" There's so much here that it will keep me busy for a while, adding details and searching for images that I may use.
You can get a copy from Spinks, who are the publishers.
Page last updated: 25 December 2024