Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords Stickpin

Product Description: This Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords Stickpin is a wonderful example, with outstanding eye appeal.  In Germany, during and between the World Wars, stickpins were generally made for wear on civilian clothing, by either men or women. Whereas most civil and military awards intended for uniform wear were in the form of medals or pin-on badges, the simple stickpins were mostly for adorning lapels of suits. A huge variety of these stickpins were produced. There were pins that anyone could buy, that were patriotic or showed support for some specific cause. There were also various membership pins for military, paramilitary, civil and political organizations. Military and civil awards were also produced in stickpin versions. These took the form of miniature versions of the awards, and could either show one individual award, or all the awards that one individual had received. In many cases, German stickpins were made with the same standard of quality as the full-size medals and badges. This stickpin is in excellent plus plus condition.

Historical Description: The Spanish Cross (Spanienkreuz) was instituted on April 14, 1939, to recognize the achievements of German personnel who participated in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. It was in the shape of a Maltese cross with a swastika in the center and Luftwaffe eagle emblems in the spaces between the four arms. The pin-backed award was issued in four classes: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold with Diamonds. Bronze and Silver classes were made both with and without swords. Silver and Bronze awards without swords were for non-combatants and was issued to military and civilian personnel with three months of wartime experience in Spain, with the silver version issued for merit. The Bronze award with swords was for combatants, the silver award with swords was for soldiers who took part in decisive battles and who had considerable fighting experience, and the Gold award was for great merit. The highest grade. The Spanish Cross in Gold with Diamonds, was very rarely awarded and reserved for those who showed the greatest merit or who had high leadership skills in battle. There was also a version made for the next of kin of men who had been killed; this was a medal suspended from a ribbon, rather than a pin-on badge. Unlike most German awards, the Spanish Cross was worn on the right side of the uniform.

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