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24-644: The John Chard Decoration , post-nominal letters JCD , was a military long service decoration which was instituted by the Union of South Africa on 6 April 1952. It was awarded to members of the Citizen Force of the South African Defence Force for twenty years of efficient service and good conduct. Clasps could be awarded after thirty and forty years service respectively. The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed

48-483: A medal, a decoration which entitled the recipient to the post-nominal letters JCD and, after thirty and forty years respectively, clasps to the decoration, of which only the decoration (and clasps) could be worn once awarded. To resolve the issue, recipients of the John Chard Decoration and John Chard Medal were allowed, from 1986, to wear both the decoration and the medal. Members who elected to receive

72-577: A second clasp was instituted for award after 40 years service. From 1 July 1975, when the Good Service Medal, Silver was instituted as the middle award in a new series of three medals for long service for members of all three elements of the South African Defence Force, qualifying Citizen Force members who had already been awarded the John Chard Medal, but who had not yet been awarded the John Chard Decoration, could elect to receive

96-544: A tree, the river and the mission station at Rorke's Drift in Natal, the scene of the 1879 battle in which Lieutenant Chard and ten of his men won the Victoria Cross (VC), and is inscribed "RORKE'S DRIFT 1879". The scene is surrounded by the inscriptions "JOHN CHARD" at the top and "DECORATION : DEKORASIE" at the bottom. The reverse has the pre-1994 South African coat of arms and the original decorations, minted by

120-684: Is responsible for minting all coins of the South African rand on behalf of its owner, the South African Reserve Bank . Located in Centurion, Gauteng near South Africa's administrative capital Pretoria , the mint manufactures coins and planchets for both domestic and international markets. Following the discovery of gold in the South African Republic (causing the 1886 Witwatersrand Gold Rush ),

144-476: Is the same as the ribbon for the John Chard Medal , 32 millimetres wide with a 3 millimetres wide dark blue band, a 2 millimetres wide white band, a 22 millimetres wide dark red band, a 2 millimetres wide white band and a 3 millimetres wide dark blue band. Since a silver button inscribed "JCD" is already worn on the ribbon bar, miniature versions of the distinguishing insignia in silver, which are worn on

168-557: The Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe during the armed campaign against the former government. The South African National Defence Force , which was formed in 1994 by amalgamating the SADF, the liberation armies, and the military forces of the former homelands, used the SADF decorations and medals until 2003, when a new series of decorations was instituted: South African Mint The South African Mint

192-550: The South African Mint , but with effect from c. 1980, the manufacturing of all new awards as well as the further production of older awards were put out to tender by private enterprises. Since the tooling of the older awards was retained by the Mint, private manufacturers had to manufacture their own tooling, which resulted in several variations in appearance. Poor quality control and cost cutting by manufacturers resulted in

216-535: The Union Defence Forces , which continued the system. British decorations for gallantry and distinguished service were awarded during World War I and World War II , and the South African government granted the other categories of award. They were: In 1920, the South African government instituted a separate set of awards, for Boer veterans of the 1899–1902 Anglo-Boer War — neither of

240-544: The Boer republics for which they had fought had had its own honours system. The awards were: South Africa introduced its own honours system in 1952. Its largest component was a series of military decorations and medals, which not only replaced the existing long service medals, but provided substitutes for the decorations which the British government had awarded in wartime: A new system was introduced in 1975. It retained seven of

264-550: The British established a branch of the Royal Mint on 1 January 1923, which produced £83,114,575 worth of sovereigns during its lifetime. As South Africa began cutting ties with Britain, the mint closed on 30 June 1941 only to be later reopened as the South African Mint. Most of the production is of circulation coins and commemorative coins . Among them are: This article about South African government

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288-468: The Good Service Medal, Silver instead, but such members would thereafter be restricted to the series chosen. The choice was therefore between, on the one hand, a further two medals which would, together with the John Chard Medal, eventually reward thirty years service and of which all three medals could be worn together, once awarded and, on the other hand, the existing Citizen Force series of

312-463: The John Chard series would, however, still be excluded from receiving the Good Service Medal, Gold after completing thirty years of qualifying service. With effect from 6 April 1952, when the John Chard Decoration and several other new decorations and medals were instituted, these new awards took precedence before all earlier British orders, decorations and medals awarded to South Africans, with

336-647: The South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The John Chard Decoration, post-nominal letters JCD, was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II on 6 April 1952, during the Tercentenary Van Riebeeck Festival . The decoration was awarded to all ranks of the Citizen Force for twenty years efficient service, not necessarily continuous. It

360-416: The South African Mint, have a raised rim and a separately struck ribbon suspender which is soldered to the top of the decoration, such as the one depicted at the top of the page. The decoration number was impressed or engraved at the bottom on the rim. The clasps are struck in silver (thirty years) and silver-gilt (forty years) and have a circle containing the letters "JCD" embossed in the centre. The ribbon

384-468: The acceptance and award of a large number of decorations which were struck in nickel-plated bronze instead of silver, less than 3 millimetres thick, with no raised rim on the reverse, with the ribbon suspender struck as an integral part of the decoration and even with the coat of arms off centre, such as the one depicted. The John Chard Decoration is an oval medallion struck in silver, 39 millimetres wide, 51 millimetres high and 3 millimetres thick. It depicts

408-716: The country's President Paul Kruger decided to establish a national mint. This was established in 1890 and opened on 6 July 1892 in Pretoria . After the end of the Second Boer War in 1902, the country was annexed into the British Empire and became the Transvaal Colony , leading to the closure of the mint after the pound sterling became the legal tender of the new colony. Under the Mint Act of 1919 ,

432-562: The exception of the Victoria Cross , which still took precedence before all other awards. The other older British awards continued to be worn in the order prescribed by the British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood . The position of the John Chard Decoration in the official order of precedence was revised three times after 1975, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first upon

456-566: The existing decorations and medals. Innovations included a hierarchy of merit awards, cumulative long service medals, and colour-coded ribbons. As the South African Defence Force was engaged in military operations in South West Africa and Angola throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the number of awards granted each year increased significantly. Additional decorations were instituted between 1987 and 1991. In 1996, two separate sets of decorations were instituted for veterans who had served in

480-681: The integration into the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, again 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 finally upon the institution of a new set of awards on 27 April 2003. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Initially all South African military orders, decorations and medals were minted by

504-723: The ribbon, are not worn on the ribbon bar. These distinguishing insignia denote the Arm of the Service in which the qualifying service was rendered, crossed swords for the South African Army , an eagle for the South African Air Force and an anchor for the South African Navy . Conferment of the John Chard Decoration was discontinued in respect of services performed on or after 27 April 2003, when it

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528-639: Was initially one of only three awards for long service which entitled the recipient to the use of post-nominal letters, the others being the De Wet Decoration (DWD), which was awarded to Commando members, and the defunct Efficiency Decoration (ED). In respect of officers, the John Chard Decoration replaced the Efficiency Decoration, which had been awarded to officers of the Citizen Force between 1939 and 1952. The decoration

552-518: Was named after John Chard VC , the lieutenant in command of the supply depot at Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War , when it was attacked by Zulus in January 1879. Upon being awarded the John Chard Decoration, recipients of the John Chard Medal were no longer allowed to wear the medal. A clasp could be awarded to holders of the John Chard Decoration after 30 years service. In 1977,

576-436: Was replaced by the new Medalje vir Troue Diens and Bar, 20 years . South African military decorations The colonial military forces received British military decorations in wartime. From 1894, the colonial governments awarded medals for distinguished conduct and for long service. This was the general practice in the British Empire at that time. The colonial medals were: The colonial forces were replaced in 1912 by

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