Letter - Postnominal Letters for the Victoria Cross [1912-02-28]

Letter - Postnominal Letters for the Victoria Cross [1912-02-28]

Honors

Victoria Cross

Letter from Sir Frederick Ponsonby to Reginald Brade setting out King George V's wishes regarding the positioning and formatting of the postnominal letters associated with the Victoria Cross.

Sir Frederick Ponsonby (Assistant Private Secretary to King George V)

College of Arms I82/47

1912-02-28

Mark Scott

Buckingham Palace, 28 February 1912

Dear Mr Brade,

In Lord Stamfordham’s temporary absence I have submitted to the King your letter of the 27^th  February. His Majesty says that there can be no doubt that the Victoria Cross should go first of all Orders and Decorations. It is quite apart from any Order of Chivalry, and although it carries no rank with it, hitherto the invariable custom has been to place it before all other Decorations. The King therefore wishes that in all Alphabetical Lists, such as the Army or Navy list the V.C. should be put before the name in Old English Letters; and further that in Addresses, or when its abbreviation is placed in juxtaposition with the abbreviations of Orders of Chivalry, the V.C. should come first. Will you kindly inform the Admiralty of His Majesty’s wishes on this subject?

Yours very truly,

F.E.G. Ponsonby

R.H. Brade, Esq., C.B., Assistant Secretary, War Office

Sir Frederick Ponsonby (Assistant Private Secretary to King George V)

Reginald Brade (Assistant Secretary, War Office)

This is a transcript taken from the records of the College of Arms and may not reflect the formatting of the original.