The Belgian Croix de Guerre has the distinction of having been established three times. It was first established through a royal decree issued by King of the Belgians Albert I on October 25, 2015. An individual rather than a unit award, it was primarily intended to recognize bravery and other meritorious performance in battle, but was expanded to reward three or more years of combat duty and for good conduct.
As World War I dragged on and the Belgian army desperately needed new recruits to continue the collective effort to expel German forces from their country, the decoration was awarded to volunteers who represented “extremes” on the age spectrum—i.e., volunteers over the age of forty or under the age of sixteen—after they had logged eighteen months of service. It was also awarded to POWs who escaped German captivity and returned to the armed forces and to military personnel forced into inactive duty because of war wounds.
The reward was disestablished following the end of World War II, but Germany’s invasion of Belgium in May, 1940 led to the medal’s re-establishment on July 20, 1940. This time, however, it was authorized not by royal decree, but by the Belgian government in exile (King Leopold III had surrendered to the Germans on May 28 and kept him under house arrest in Brussels). The World War II establishment allowed the award to be made to both individuals and to units, and was awarded for actions performed between the 1940 German invasion and the end of the war in 1945.
In 1954, the Belgian government re-established the award—the first time this had happened during peacetime. This newest authorized version of the decoration has not yet been awarded (thankfully).
Like its French counterpart, the Belgian Croix de Guerre is issued with appurtenances based on the organizational rank of the awarding command. Bronze, silver, and gold lions are used for awards issued at the regimental, brigade, and division levels respectively, while a bronze palm indicates the award was issued at the Army level. Silver palms are worn in place of five bronze palms and gold palms in lieu of five silver.