Belgian Congo Medal for Agricultural and Artisanal Merit

This medal was instituted in three classes (gilt, silver, and bronze) on August 8, 1958 to honor independent farmers and artisans, living in Belgian Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, who distinguished themselves by exceptional results or by a sustained activity and perseverance (35, 25 or 15 years uninterrupted professional activity for gold, silver and bronze, respectively).

The signature of the engraver and year, A. COURTOIS/58 is at the bottom right. A predominantly reddish-purple ribbon was used for artisans and a predominantly green ribbon for the agricultural awards.

Given the short period between its institution and independence for the Congo, extremely few of these medals were issued making them also difficult to obtain.