PORTUGAL. CROSS OF MERIT OF THE PORTUGUESE LEGION, GOLD CLASS
Portugal. Cross of Merit of the Portuguese Legion, gold class (Cruz de Mérito da Legião Portuguesa, da classe de ouro)
The Legião Portuguesa was a paramilitary organisation founded in 1936 in support of the right-wing dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar then threatened by internal dissent and Spanish Republicans as the Civil War in neighbouring Spain flared. Its aim was ‘defender o património espiritual da Nação e combater a ameaça comunista e o anarquismo’ (to defend the spiritual heritage of the
| Estimate: |
£120 - £180
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Hammer price:
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£60 |
Bidding ended. Lot has been sold.
nation and combat the threat of Communism and Anarchism).
From the 1940s, the regime’s grip on power secure, it
became largely a civil defence force. It was dissolved on 25 April 1974 after
the fall of the Salazar government.
The Cross is rare.
