Honoris Crux Diamond
The Honoris Crux Diamond (Diamond Cross of Honour), post-nominal letters HCD, was a military decoration for bravery that was instituted by the Republic of South Africa on 1 July 1975, but never awarded. The decoration was intended for award to members of the South African Defence Force for death-defying heroic deeds of outstanding valour.
Honoris Crux Diamond
- Name
- Honoris Crux Diamond
- Period
- 1975
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
The Honoris Crux Diamond (Diamond Cross of Honour), post-nominal letters HCD, was a military decoration for bravery that was instituted by the Republic of South Africa on 1 July 1975, but never awarded. The decoration was intended for award to members of the South African Defence Force for death-defying heroic deeds of outstanding valour.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5897073 · wikipedia · Honoris Crux Diamond
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Honoris Crux Diamond • Presenter — the State President • Country — South Africa • Type — Military decoration for bravery • Eligibility — All Ranks • Awarded For — Death-defying heroic deeds of outstanding valour • Status — Discontinued in 1993 • Post Nominals — HCD • Established — 1975 • Firstawarded — Never awarded • Image2 — * Illustration — x29px • Caption2 — Ribbon bar
Institution
Institution
The Honoris Crux Diamond (Diamond Cross of Honour), post-nominal letters HCD, was instituted by the State President on 1 July 1975.
Discontinuation
Discontinuation
Since it was never awarded and now never will be, the Honoris Crux Diamond was no longer listed in the official order of precedence lists, as published in the Republic of South Africa Government Gazette, since 1993. Only one Honoris Crux Diamond Decoration was ever struck. The Department of Defence donated it to the South African National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg on 21 May 2009.
Chronology
Dated record
Chronology
The full dated record · 2 entries
1975
Honoris Crux Diamond first recorded.
1975
Honoris Crux Diamond is recorded from 1975.
Description
• Obverse The Honoris Crux Diamond was a silver-gilt Maltese cross that fits in a circle 45 millimetres in diameter, with two swords in saltire surmounted by a circular protea wreath, the arms of the cross in green enamel, with a roundel in the centre tierced horizontally in the orange, white and blue bands of the national flag, framed in a double circle containing eight diamonds set in green enamel. Apart from the eight diamonds in the enameled circle, it is identical to the Honoris Crux Gold in all respects. • Reverse The reverse had the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms, with the decoration number underneath. • Ribbon The ribbon was 32 millimetres wide and orange.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5897073: Honoris Crux Diamond
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Honoris Crux Diamond”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Award criteria
The decoration could be awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for death-defying heroic deeds of outstanding valour. It was the most senior of a set of four classes of Honoris Crux decorations, the Honoris Crux Diamond, Honoris Crux Gold, Honoris Crux Silver and Honoris Crux, that together replaced the discontinued Honoris Crux of 1952.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.South African Medal Website - Post-nominal Letters (Accessed 28 April 2015)
- 2.South African Medal Website - SA Defence Force : 1975-2003 (Accessed 30 April 2015)
- 3.Monick, S. South African Military Awards 1912–1987. South African National Museum of Military History. 49. 1988.
- 4.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993
- 5.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005,
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Medals
1,069 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Holloway broochTerminology
- Home Guard Medal of MeritTerminology
- Honorary SabreTerminology
- Honoris CruxTerminology
- Honoris Crux GoldTerminology
- Honoris Crux SilverTerminology
- Honour Badge of LabourTerminology
- Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918Terminology
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