Order of Leopold II

Order of Leopold II Ordre de Léopold II Orde van Leopold II
Commander's cross of the Order of Leopold II
Awarded by Kingdom of Belgium Award of
Type	Order of Merit with five classes and three medals
Motto	EENDRACHT MAAKT MACHT - L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE
Day	Awarded on 8 April (Birthday of King Albert I) and 15 November (King's Feast), and for obliging cases on 21 July (Belgian national holiday).
Eligibility	Eligible for persons above the age of 42
Awarded for	Bravery in combat or meritorious service
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	His Majesty King Philippe
Grades	Grand Cross Grand Officer Commander Officer Knight
Statistics
Established	24 August 1900 1900 - 1908 (Order of Congo) 1908 - present (as Belgian Order)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of the Crown
Next (lower)	Military Decoration for exceptional action or for acts of bravery or devotion

The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Léopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as king of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium, incorporated into the Belgian awards system. The order is awarded for meritorious service to the sovereign of Belgium, and as a token of his personal goodwill. It can be awarded to both Belgians and foreigners.

The order has become a long service order for people in the civil service and is awarded alternatively with the Order of the Crown, as the Order of Leopold is awarded under rarer circumstances. The order currently stands third after the Order of Leopold (1st) and the Order of the Crown (2nd) in the Belgian honors hierarchy. The Order of Leopold II is awarded by royal decree.

The Order of Leopold II is issued in five classes and three medals:

Stars and borders or stripes can be awarded together, but these deviations are currently only rarely awarded.

Originally, the central stripe of the ribbon was white, as blue and white were the colours of the Congo Free State.

The ribbon bar of the order, which is worn on the semi-formal dress uniform is:

Despite the fact that, contrary to the Order of Leopold, no maritime or military divisions of the Order of Leopold II exist, some unofficial decorations with crossed anchors or crossed swords under the suspension crown are known to exist.

National Orders are awarded by Royal Decree at fixed dates: 8 April (Birthday of King Albert I), 15 November (King's Feast), and in some cases on 21 July (Belgian national holiday)) to reward meritorious services to the Kingdom of Belgium based on the career path and age of the recipient. A number of different regulations rule the award of National Order for the various ministries. In addition, the National Orders may be awarded by the King for especially meritorious deeds. The Royal Decrees are published in the Belgian Official Journal (Moniteur Belge).