(Orden Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial). Badge with a two-piece construction, in silver gilt with red, white, green and blue enamels, in the shape of a Maltese cross with ball finials, the arms in a tri-colour, an insignia in the centre which illustrates a rooster with an elongated triangular shield on its chest and backed by crossed spears, framed within an open-ended wreath, a ribbon banner inscribed "12 X 1968" (October 12, 1968, the country's date of independence) above and a ribbon banner inscribed in Spanish "GUINEA EQUATORIAL INDEPENDENCIA" (Equatorial Guinea Independence) below, the insignia resting upon a tilted square, the badge measuring 57.5 mm (w) x 61.5 mm (h). The neck chain houses twenty-four badges, which includes twelve insignias in silver gilt with red, white, green and blue enamels, each of which is marked "925" (silver) on the reverse, illustrating a rooster with an elongated triangular shield on its chest and backed by crossed spears, eleven of the insignias measuring 26.8 mm (w) x 35.7 mm (h) each inclusive of their loops, the twelfth one with a integral loop at its base to suspend the badge and measuring 26.8 mm (w) x 40 mm (h) inclusive of its loops, along with twelve badges incorporating a leafing motif in silver gilt with green enamels, measuring 61 mm (w) x 25.5 mm (h) each inclusive of their loops, the badges placed in an alternating pattern and connected to one another via a single-link, the collar chain measuring approximately 1,125 mm in length. Fine chipping evident in the green enamels on three of the twelve leafing motif badges, very light contact, better than very fine.
Footnote: The National Order of Equatorial Guinea is awarded for great services rendered to Equatorial Guinea, a country located on the west coast of Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name evokes its location near both the Equator and the Gulf of Guinea, its independence conceded on October 12, 1968, with the region becoming the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Francisco Macías Nguema was elected as its president. On Christmas Eve 1969, Macías Nguema had 150 alleged coup plotters executed and by July 1970, he had created a single-party state and made himself president for life in 1972. Equatorial Guinea is the only sovereign African state in which Spanish is an official language.