Badge - Crowned Gold Cross of the Francis-Joseph Order on red ribbon

A footed cross with an engraved base, lined with gold, decorated with red enamel. There is a 6 mm wide ring on the front of the central, round shield that is painted in white enamel. The stripe between the ring and the protruding rim of the shield shows the inscription "VIRIBUS UNITIS" (with united power), which was the royal slogan of Francis Joseph. The letters are divided by small, golden ellipsis figures, symbolising chains. At the beginning and at the end of the text, there is a symbol of the above slogan: two folded hands, known as the Treue (Faith) motif. Inside the circular inscription there are the "FJ." initials the back shows the date 1849, the coronation date of the emperor. The central shield can be opened, but is empty inside. A pierced, golden crown is fixed to the cross, with a hanger that bears the company marks. The cross is kept in a box lined with white silk and inscribed with "V Mayer's Sohne (K.u.K. Hof u. Kammer Juweliere / Ordenfabrikante / Wien" in gold letters.

In the beginning, there were four, later six grades of the Crosses belonging to the Francis-Joseph Order, founded by Francis-Joseph I in 1849 it was donated from 1850 onwards.

Identical pieces can be found in the Budapest Museum of Warfare History (see: Václáv Mericka: Orden und Ehrenzeichen der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie. Wien - München, 1974, p. 163-167. Makai Ágnes-Héri Vera: Kitüntetések. /Awards/ Bp. 1990)