Civilian Resistance Medal

The Civilian Resistance Medal (Médaille du résistant civil, Burgerlijke Weerstandsmedaille) was a war service medal of the Kingdom of Belgium established by royal decree on 21 March 1951 and awarded to all members of the Belgian civilian resistance during the Second World War who were recognised as such by the law of 24 September 1946.

Award description
The Civilian Resistance Medal was a circular 39mm in diameter bronze medal. Its obverse bore the relief image of the torso of a man breaking free of chains around his wrists, a woman stands behind him and slightly to his left. The reverse bore the relief inscription in Latin "RESTITERUNT" meaning "I RESISTED" with the years "1940" above and "1945" below. The reverse had a slightly raised border.

The medal was suspended by a ring through a suspension loop from a 37mm wide light green silk moiré ribbon with two central 1mm wide red stripes 5mm apart and 4mm black edge stripes. The colours of the ribbon were symbolic, the black denoting the dark days of the German occupation and/or the clandestine nature of the resistance, the green stood the hope of liberation and the red for the spilled blood of the resistance members.

Notable recipients (partial list)

 * Baron Charles Poswick

Other sources

 * Quinot H., 1950, Recueil illustré des décorations belges et congolaises, 4e Edition. (Hasselt)
 * Cornet R., 1982, Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges. 2e Ed. N.pl., (Brussels)
 * Borné A.C., 1985, Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830–1985 (Brussels)