What is an Order of Freedom?
Orders of Freedom or Freedom Awards/ Honours are usually the highest national awards and are usually considered to be civic in nature. They are historically based on the archaic term, from the old English “frēodōm”, which meant openness, privilege, right of way or access or entitlement and thus many Nations utilize this term with especial focus on its archaic meaning.
When people think of Freedom Awards they usually think of “The Key to the City”, which in an of itself is a type of Freedom Award.
“The Honorary Freedom of the City of London is indeed the highest honour that the City can bestow, but it is granted very rarely. Before the mid-19th century, the Freedom of the City of London was a practical necessity for those who plied a trade or made their living in the City of London. Indeed, certain groups of people were compelled, on pain of prosecution, to be Free of the City…” (City of London – London Metropolitan Archives, 2010).
Benefits included amongst other things, the privilege to vote in Parliamentary election and in civic elections as well as becoming exempt from naval impressment (or drafting) Two examples, in different forms, are shown below (Figures 1 & 2).
Other notable mentions include the Presidential Medal of Freedom (United States of America) (Figure 3), The Order of Freedom (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Order of Freedom (Serbia & Montenegro formerly awarded in Yugoslavia) – with the latter being a military designation.
The Order of the Freedom of Barbados came as an answer to an “issue” long faced by Barbadians – there was no medal or honour created by Barbadians for Barbadians. All of the Orders, Honours and Decorations which exist were established by the Letters Patent in the Extraordinary Gazette of 25 July 1980. It is said that some persons, due to political and philosophical premises – or otherwise – would respectfully decline the Knighthood, which is the Knight or Dame of St. Andrew (KA/DA) in the Order of Barbados. The Order of Freedom of Barbados came as a solution to this.
The Order is of equivalent rank and status of the Knighthood though styled differently (The Honourable as opposed to Sir or Dame). It was officially passed in Parliament by a Bill entitled the Freedom of Barbados Bill which was tabled by the Hon. Mia Amor Mottley QC, MP, Prime Minister of Barbados on 15 August 2019. Subsequently an announcement was made establishing a competition for the designs of the Order. The design which was agreed upon was submitted on 23 August 2019. It was first conferred on 30 November 2019. Made of gold plated silver and blue enamel , the medallion is composed of a cross pattée charged with the rising island of Barbados in its centre with two arced sugar cane stalks between each arm which forms a greater and lesser circle.
This medal was designed by Mitchell A. Nicholls and the original graphic renderings were done by Alex Smith. It was manufactured by the Worcestershire Medal Service (UK).
Keep posted for my in depth paper looking at the full details and specs of the Order, its significance and design.
Sources & Materials
Figure 2. Heritage Auctions: “1986 New York City Key to the City” https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-collectibles/others/1986-new-york-city-key-to-the-city-presented-to-gary-carter/a/7165-52102.s
Figure 3: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: “Webb Medal of Freedom” https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/5089hjpg
Read more on the Presidential Medal of Freedom here: The White House: “Medal of Freedom” https://www.whitehouse.gov/medaloffreedom/
Figure 4& 5: Photos by Mitchell A. Nicholls: “The Order of the Freedom of Barbados worn by its recipient Professor The Honourable V. Eudine Barriteau” 30 November 2019
See also: The Barbados Parliament: “Order of Freedom of Barbados Bill” (downloadable) https://www.barbadosparliament.com/uploads/bill_resolution/2ab592b582fb2157df92f694d778cfb0.pdf and Worcestershire Medal Service https://www.worcmedals.com/
The Heraldic Office 