Japan - Imperial Japanese Red Cross Society Membership Medal in Silver on ladies bow mounted with a dual pin device for wearing the award
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Circular light alloy silvered medal with claw and laterally pierced cylinder suspension, the reverse of the claw with ‘S’ maker's mark; the face with the emblem of the Society of a phoenix (ho-o) above a Geneva (Greek) cross with pauwlonia and bamboo wreath; the reverse with two rows of characters ‘Meiji 21st year’ (1888) ‘Japanese Red Cross Society’; on original ribbon with hook and eye fastenings. The Japanese Red Cross Society grew from the Benevolence Society founded in 1877 to give aid to those wounded in the Satsuma Rebellion which spelled the end of Samurai power. The Society acceded to the Geneva Convention in 1886 and adopted its current name in 1887.
