Castle of Good Hope Decoration
Awarded by the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms and, from 1961, the State President
Country	South Africa
Type	Military decoration for bravery
Eligibility	All Ranks
Awarded for	Most conspicuous bravery
Status	Discontinued in 2003
Post-nominals	CGH
Statistics
Established	1952
First awarded	Never awarded
SADF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear
Next (higher)	SADF precedence: Victoria Cross SANDF precedence: Victoria Cross
Next (lower)	SADF succession: Honoris Crux Diamond SANDF succession: Honoris Crux Gold
Ribbon bar

The Castle of Good Hope Decoration, post-nominal letters CGH, is a military decoration for bravery that was instituted by the Union of South Africa on 6 April 1952, but never awarded. The decoration was intended for award to members of the South African Defence Force for a signal act of valour or most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.^[1][2]

The South African military[edit]

The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994 it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Institution[edit]

The Castle of Good Hope Decoration, post-nominal letters CGH, was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II on 6 April 1952, during the Tercentenary Van Riebeeck Festival, as the most senior of a series of military decorations and medals that substituted many of the British and Commonwealth awards which had earlier been used.^[7]

Award criteria[edit]

The Castle of Good Hope Decoration could be awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for a signal act of valour or most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy in wartime. A Bar could be awarded for a further similar deed of bravery. It was the most senior of all South African orders, decorations and medals from 1952 to 2003. It was formally authorised by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 January 1953 as a South African substitute for the Victoria Cross (VC), for which South African servicemen had previously been eligible.^[2][8][9]

In 1986, during the undeclared 1966-1989 Border War, the restriction to wartime acts was removed to make the decoration available to reward actions during other military operations.^[8][9]

Order of wear[edit]

With effect from 6 April 1952, when the Castle of Good Hope Decoration and several other new decorations and medals were instituted, these new awards took precedence before all earlier British orders, decorations and medals awarded to South Africans, with the exception of the Victoria Cross which still took precedence before all other awards. The other older British awards continued to be worn in the order prescribed by the British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.^[10][11][12]

The Castle of Good Hope Decoration still appeared in the official order of precedence table that was published on 3 September 1993 but, since it was never awarded and was officially discontinued on 27 April 2003, it was no longer listed when a new table was published on 11 March 2005. Until 3 September 1993 it was succeeded by the Honoris Crux Diamond (HCD), which was omitted from the official order of precedence table on that date, and thereafter by the Honoris Crux Gold (HCG).^[12][13]

South African Defence Force until 3 September 1993

• Official SADF order of precedence:
  • Preceded by the Victoria Cross (VC).^[11]
  • Succeeded by the Honoris Crux Diamond (HCD).^[13]

• Official national order of precedence:
  • Preceded by the Victoria Cross (VC).^[11]
  • Succeeded by the Honoris Crux Diamond (HCD).^[13]

South African Defence Force and South African National Defence Force until 26 April 2003

• Official SADF and SANDF order of precedence:
  • Preceded by the Victoria Cross (VC) of the United Kingdom.^[11]
  • Succeeded by the Honoris Crux Gold (HCG).^[12][13]

• Official national order of precedence:
  • Preceded by the Victoria Cross (VC) of the United Kingdom.^[11]
  • Succeeded by the Honoris Crux Gold (HCG).^[12][13]

Description[edit]

Obverse

The Castle of Good Hope Decoration is a gold pentagon representing the outline of South Africa's oldest military building, the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. The obverse shows Van Riebeeck's three ships sailing into Table Bay in 1652, framed in a double ring, the inner ring decorated with a wreath of proteas and the outer inscribed "CASTEEL DE GOEDE HOOP DEKORASIE" at the top and "CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE DECORATION" at the bottom.

Reverse

The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms and Queen Elizabeth's royal cipher (E II R) above the Coat of Arms. Only one decoration was struck.

Bar

The bar is of gold with a miniature replica of the Castle of Good Hope embossed in the centre.

Ribbon

The ribbon is 44 millimetres wide and green. The Castle of Good Hope Decoration was designed to be worn around the neck, but since a new specimen would have to be made without the royal cipher on the reverse in any event, should it ever be awarded, it was decided in 1991 to alter it to a chest decoration. The alteration never became necessary.

Discontinuation[edit]

The Castle of Good Hope Decoration was never awarded and now never will be. Conferment of the decoration was discontinued in respect of services performed on or after 27 April 2003.^[6][14]

References[edit]