Order of the Indian Wars of the United States

     The Order of Indian Wars of the United States is a sodality that is patriotic, hereditary, historical, social, and charitable.  As with many other recognized and distinguished genealogical societies, we have our own ancient insignia inasmuch as we were founded in 1896.  The following information is designed to assist our membership in the proper utilization of their insignia.  Whenever the membership wears our insignia, they are representing the entire Order; they are manifesting our principles and purposes.  It behooves them to always be cognizant of that representation.  Our custom of usage is one that is sensitive to our own peers in the American Social Register.  

 

     Of course, each member is requested to conform to the regulations below.  We wish to bring credit, respect, and honour to our sodality. 
 

Insignia Items

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Full Dress or Standard Medal: The Full Dress medal of the Order (also referred to as Full Size Insignia) consists of the large medal of this society pendant from a red, white, orange, black and blue ribbon.  It is worn on the left breast of the coat (off lapel, if possible) about four inches below the top of the shoulder and above the pocket and centered upon it. The Full Dress medal is worn with formal day attire (cut-away, or braided short day coat), full evening dress (white tie), or dinner jacket (black tie), or such informal attire as a sack suit or blazer. It may also be appropriate on a dress military uniform; the regulations of the apropos military service govern the proper placement thereon.  It may be displayed on an overcoat or topcoat during inclement weather for a ceremony where this Order's identification is requisite. If more than one full dress/standard size medal is displayed, the insignia of the most senior organization, by date of founding, is mounted toward the wearer's right. There are protocols to this sequence with exceptions, see Rules of Precedence below.  The top edge of all medals should be on an even row.  This full dress/standard medal is never worn with any type of miniature.  The Full Dress medal is never worn after six o'clock post meridian.

Miniature Medal:  The miniature medal is always worn mounted upon a breast type ribbon.  It is properly displayed only when a member appears in formal dress (white tie, black tie, or cut-away).  Miniatures are always displayed upon the left breast.  They must always be of the same size.  The miniature may be displayed upon military dress uniforms according to that service's regulations.  Placement on civilian formal dress is usually determined by the date of origin of the various organizations founding, i.e., the medal of the most senior society by date of founding being to the wearer's right and proceeding by the next senior society to the left.  There are protocols to this sequence with exceptions, see Rules of Precedence below.  The miniature is never displayed with full dress/standard size medals with the sole caveat that is when a standard size medal is suspended by a neck ribbon.  Miniatures should be mounted in a row and may be overlapped at the wearer's discretion.  It is preferable that only one line of miniatures be displayed at a time.

Neck Ribbon & Medal:  The official neck ribbon of the Order is of red, white, orange, black and blue silk, 1.5 inches wide.  Suspended from the neck ribbon is always a full dress medal.  This may be worn by all regular members of the Order and it is expected of all Officers of the Order.  It is only worn with formal attire, either white tie or black tie.  The neck ribbon should be suspended one inch under the bow tie.

Rosette:  This is our small circular four-coloured cloth with a clutch back recognition badge to be worn on a gentleman's sack suit or blazer.  It should always be displayed with cravat whether that be four-in-hand or bow.  It should always be in the upper left breast coat lapel button-hole or in the location where a button-hole would normally be positioned should there be no button-hole.  It is never worn with another rosette or other lapel pins.  This would detract from our Order.  It also appears louche!  It is always worn on informal coats and never with formal attire, whether that be black tie or white tie (dinner jacket or full evening dress).  It certainly should never be worn on a uniform of any type.  It is never worn on an overcoat or topcoat. 

Tie:  The Order's red, white, orange, black and blue tie (both four-in-hand and bow) may be worn with either sack suit, blazer, or sports coat.  It may be displayed when a topcoat is being worn.  When wearing our tie, our rosette should also be worn.

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Cummerbund:  The Order's red, white, orange, black and blue silk cummerbund may be worn with black tie.  It should be worn with the Order's bow tie.  It is encouraged that the wearer will also utilize the Order's own braces.

 

Rules of Precedence

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     When apropos, members may wear their miniature medals in a row on either white tie or black tie on the upper left breast in a horizontal line.  They should only wear one row at a time.  If they are wearing a neck ribbon with suspended medal, then that miniature should appear in the row worn.  The bar/row of medals should never be longer than the distance between the inner edge of the left lapel of the coat and the left armhole seam.  Medals may be overlapped on the right edges to conserve space.  The medal closest to the heart, ergo, to the wearer's right, is first in precedence with those to the left in descending precedence.  In general, the date of the founding of the society/order determines the precedence.  The following categories are further taken in precedence for civilian attire:

 Federal Military Decorations. (Their usage and precedence is determined by the current regulations of the apposite service, i.e., Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, or Coast Guard.)  Withal, military medals are never mounted or displayed on the same row as hereditary society medals.

Foreign Decorations.  These take precedence immediately following all United States decorations. The order of precedence will be the order in which they were received. These would include those orders of chivalry and knighthood that are presented by a recognized foreign sovereign.  They would include the decorations and medals of the Venerable Order of  St. John of Jerusalem (as recognized by Her Britannic Majesty), and the Sovereign Order of Malta (as recognized by the Holy See).  Ergo, they would not  include those foreign orders which are not presented by a recognized foreign sovereign.

State Decorations. Their usage is determined by the current regulations of the States.

Hereditary Societies.  As indicated, these are worn in a row on a bar with the senior society/order closest to the heart.  Precedence is determined by the date of the founding of the sodality.  As indicated, they are never worn or displayed on the same row as military medals.

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Of Interest

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Members of the armed forces of the United States are authorized to wear several hereditary society medals on their formal dress mess uniforms in compliance with 10 U.S.C.A. §1123 (West 1983) 25 September 1890 et seq., and as determined by the Opinion of the Attorney General of the United States dated 1901. These appear to be currently: The Society of the Cincinnati, The Society of the War of 1812, The Aztec Club of 1847, and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.