A Vietnamese Civil Merit Order; Officer

A Vietnamese Civil Merit Order; Officer - Silver gilt with black and white enamels, 43 mm, large rosette on an original ribbon, dual prong pinback, light contact, extremely fine.Footnote: The Sip Song Chau Tai (Twelve Provinces of the Dai) was an area in the north-west of French Indochina, now Vietnam and was recognized by the French in 1890. The twelve lands expanded to nineteen lands by 1950, becoming the basis of the semi-autonomous T'ai Federation of Tonkin. Medals were awarded as a symbol of the autonomous status of the T'ai Federation, presented broadly to people of T'ai ethnic stock and to French officers and officials, Vietnamese and Lao serving with the T'ai.