The Medal for the Incentive of Philanthropy is a Bulgarian award established on 15th/ 28th October 1908 and given as an incentive or reward for humanitarian and charitable activity, and one of the first decorations to be established after the declared Bulgarian independence in September 1908 (the other one being the Life-Saving Medal).
The medal was issued in three classes: Gold (made of yellowish metal alloy or gilded silver), Silver (made of solid silver) and Bronze (made of copper). All medals are being awarded with a crown suspension.
Awarded rather rarely, the stock of the medal with his effigy were used for decorations throughout the reign of His son, King Boris III, and even during the regency period, up until 1947.
The Medal for the Incentive of Philanthropy Design
The medal is circular and measures 29 millimeters in diameter. It was designed by Paul Telge and minted in Germany and Austro-Hungary.
The obverse bears the effigy of King Ferdinand I circumscribed by the text: “ФЕРДИНАНДЪ I ЦАРЬ НА БЪЛГАРИТѢ” (“Ferdinand I Tsar (King) of the Bulgarians“).
The reverse bears a circular laurel wreath with the motto of the medal inscribed on four lines: “ЗА НАСЪРДЧЕНИЕ КЪМЪ ЧЕЛОВѢКОЛЮБИЕ” (“For incentive of philanthropy.“)
The ribbon is red, with two green stripes and one white one on the edges.
