Long Military Service Cross (Spain)

Last updated
Long Military Service Cross
Spanish Long Service Cross.svg
Long Service Cross in Gold
Awarded by Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
TypeMedal
EligibilityMilitary personnel and members of the Civil Guard
Awarded forLong service and good conduct
StatusCurrently Awarded
Statistics
EstablishedDecember 26, 1958
July 12, 2002 (Approved) [1]
Precedence
Next (higher) Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild [2]
Next (lower) Cruz Fidélitas

The Long Military Service Cross (Spanish: Cruz a la Constancia en el Servicio) is a military decoration of the Spanish Armed Forces and Civil Guard, designed to reward long and meritorious service below the level required for induction into the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild. The medal was established by the Spanish government on December 26, 1958, and approved by Juan Carlos I in Royal Decree 682/2002. [1] Regulations for the award were later modified in 2011, by Royal Decree 1385/2011. [3]

Spanish or Castilian, is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula and today has over 450 million native speakers in Spain and the Americas. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.

Spanish Armed Forces Combined military forces of the Kingdom of Spain

The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of Spain, defender of its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted in the Constitution of 1978. These are formations by: the Army, the Air Force, the Spanish Armada, the Royal Guard and the Military Emergency Unit, as well as the so-called Common Corps.

The Civil Guard is the oldest law enforcement agency covering the whole of Spain. It is organised as a military force charged with police duties under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. The corps is colloquially known as the benemérita (reputable). In annual surveys, it generally ranks as the national institution most valued by Spaniards, closely followed by other law enforcement agencies and the military. It has both a regular national role and undertakes specific foreign peace-keeping missions. As a national police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French National Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri, the Portuguese National Republican Guard and the Dutch Royal Marechaussee as it is part of the European Gendarmerie Force.

Contents

Eligibility

The Long Military Service Cross may be awarded to all members of the Spanish Armed Forces, as well as to members of the Civil Guard at or below the rank of Corporal (OR-3). [3] It can be presented in three grades, depending on time of service: [4]

Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. Within NATO, each member nation's corresponding military rank of corporal is combined under the NATO-standard rank scale code OR-3 or OR-4. However, there are often differences in how each nation employs corporals. Some militaries don't have corporals, but may instead have a Junior Sergeant.

Gold Chemical element with atomic number 79

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native) form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper and palladium. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium.

Silver Chemical element with atomic number 47

Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earth's crust in the pure, free elemental form, as an alloy with gold and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

Bronze metal alloy

Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals and sometimes non-metals or metalloids such as arsenic, phosphorus or silicon. These additions produce a range of alloys that may be harder than copper alone, or have other useful properties, such as stiffness, ductility, or machinability.

Medals and Ribbon Bars
Spanish Long Service Cross.svg
ESP Cruz a la Constancia en el Servicio (Oro) pasador.svg 		Spanish Long Service Cross (Silver Cross).svg
ESP Cruz a la Constancia en el Servicio (Plata) pasador.svg 		Spanish Long Service Cross (Bronze Cross).svg
ESP Cruz a la Constancia en el Servicio (Bronce) pasador.svg
Long Military Service Cross in Gold
Long Military Service Cross in Silver
Long Military Service Cross in Bronze

In addition to time in service, an individual must not have a criminal offense on their personal record, nor have been given any significant disciplinary action, in order to be eligible to receive the medal. Demotion, and loss of rank, are automatic disqualifiers for receipt of the award. [3]

Design

The ribbon of the medal is yellow, with a central stripe and thin border of magenta. The medal is a white cross pattée, bordered in either bronze, silver, or gold, and suspended from a crown. At the center of the cross is a deep-blue enameled medallion, circumscribed by a white-enameled border which reads PREMIO A LA CONSTANCIA EN EL SERVICIO (English: Award for Constant Service). At the center of the medallion is a red Cross of Saint James, in the style of the Order of Santiago. [5]

Cross pattée type of cross which has arms narrow at the centre, and broader at the perimeter

A cross pattée is a type of Christian cross which has arms narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight line shape, to be broader at the perimeter. The form appears very early in medieval art, for example in a metalwork treasure binding given to Monza Cathedral by Queen Theodelinda, and the 8th century lower cover of the Lindau Gospels in the Morgan Library. An early English example from the start of the age of heraldry proper is found in the arms of Baron Berkeley.

English language West Germanic language

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and eventually became a global lingua franca. It is named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Great Britain that later took their name, as England. Both names derive from Anglia, a peninsula in the Baltic Sea. The language is closely related to Frisian and Low Saxon, and its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse, and to a greater extent by Latin and French.

Cross of Saint James heraldic symbol

In heraldry, the Cross of Saint James, also called the Santiago cross or the cruz espada, is a charge in the form of a cross. It combines a cross fitchy with either a cross fleury or a cross moline.

See also

The oldest Military Honours of Spain existing today originated within the christian kingdoms of Leon, Castile, Aragón and Navarre at the time of the Islamic occupation of Spain in the Middle Ages.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Real Decreto 682/2002, de 12 de julio, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de la Cruz a la Constancia en el Servicio" [Royal Decree 682/2002, of July 12, Which approves the Regulations of the Long Service Cross] (in Spanish). Gobierno De España. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Spanish Military Awards". Ministeria De Defensa. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Real Decreto 1385/2011, de 14 de octubre, por el que se modifica el Reglamento de la Cruz a la Constancia en el Servicio, aprobado por el Real Decreto 682/2002, de 12 de julio" [Royal Decree 1385/2011 of October 14, By which modifies the Regulation of the Long Military Service Cross approved by Royal Decree 682/2002, of July 12] (in Spanish). Ministerio De La Presidencia Y Para Las Administraciones Territoriales. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Spain: Long Service and Good Conduct Cross". www.medals.org.uk. December 22, 2002. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Cross of Bronze for Constancy in Service (Cruz de Bronce a la Constancia en el Servicio)". www.medal-medaille.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
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