Charity stamps were a good way of raising money and awareness for causes. Shown here are three charity stamps with a focus on providing help and relief to Serbia, as well as France. First is the 'Serbian War Orphans Fund', costing 1 cent. At the top, in Serbian Cyrillic is the text, 'СРПСКА РАТНА СИРОЧАД', which transliterates as 'Srpska Ratna Sirocad', and which translates to 'Serbian War Orphans'. The central motif shows ruins, children, a female figure, looking at the rays of the sun, and the words 'Humanity' within the rays. The address at the bottom of the stamp, 1905 Fowler Street, Chicago, Illinois, which is property of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Second is the Serbian Relief Fund stamp, which shows an image of a desolate Serbian soldier, below which is the text 'Begs Aid For Our Brave Ally', and the price of one penny. The Patroness of the Serbian Relief Fund was Britain’s own Queen Mary, its President the Lord Bishop of London, and Vice-Presidents included the Lord Bishop of Oxford, H.H. Asquith, W.S. Churchill, and Lloyd George. The work of the Fund included the establishment of a number of hospital units in Serbia, including some mobile ones, as well as sending nurses and medical supplies and stores, helping also the work of the Red Cross. Thirdly, is a stamp for the California Committee For Relief in Serbia and France, with a central figure of a nurse, above which is the text 'Merry Christmas', and the year 1919 below, and the text ‘California Committee for Relief in Serbia and France’ surrounding the central figure. The background has the Serbian tricolour of horizontal red-blue-white in the top half, and the French tricolor of vertical blue-white-red in the bottom half. This Californian stamp showed that, despite the war having been over for a year and more, clothing and other supplies were still needed and that, though California may have been half a world away, it was still going to help. || Three charity stamps. One for the Serbian War Orphans Fund, one for the Serbian Relief Fund, and one for the California Committee For Relief in Serbia and France.

This is a 1917 French-made charity medal to raise money for Serbia. The engraver is T.S.M. Lordonnois. On one side is a figure of a woman with three children, symbolising the family that has been left behind because the husband/father is away at the war. The other side of the medal has a heraldic Serbian eagle with, above it, the French text ‘OEUVRE POUR SAUVER LES ENFANTS SERBES - 1917’, which translates as ‘Work to Save Serbian Children - 1917’. || Serbian charity medal engraved by Lordonnois.

Strip of French and Serbian medal ribbons || This is a set of French and Serbian medals which show: Top row, from left: French War Cross for 1914-1918, French Combatants Cross, and the 1914-1918 Inter-Allied victory medal; Middle row, from left: French 1914-1918 Commemorative war medal, French Orient Campaign medal, and the Serbian Order of Saint Sava; Bottom row, from left: Serbian Commemorative medal for the War of 1914-1918, Serbian Gold Milos Obilic medal for Bravery, and the Serbian Order of the White Eagle with Swords. Reading ‘between the lines’ on this set, it would have belonged to a Frenchman, as the French medals a ordered in priority, left to right, over the Serbian ones. If they belonged to a Serb, then the Serbian orders and medals would have been first in the ordering, as per regulations, and then the French. However, for example, the French War Cross/Croix de guerre was also awarded to non-French soldiers, but the ordering gives the nationality away. Also, the ordering of the Serbian awards is incorrect where, for this set, the White Eagle with Swords should be the left-most, highest ranked of the Serbian ones, then the Saint Sava, then the Milos Obilic medal for Bravery, and then the 1914-1918 Commemorative medal, which is mistakenly upside-down on this set. The Orient Campaign medal indicates that the recipient was a member of the Armee d’Orient which fought on the Macedonian Front between 1915 and 1918. The Order of the White Eagle with Swords would have been awarded by Serbia from 1915 onwards. The Saint Sava award is interesting in this context because it was originally created for recognising civilian merit towards the Serbian state, royalty, the Church, and the arts and sciences, though in 1914 the regulations were changed to allow it to be awarded to the military for meritorious achievement in that field. The Serbian ribbon bars with metal decorative features are rare in that, for example, the non-French version of the Obilic bar is more common and does not feature a ‘rosette’ around the gold coloured miniature version of the medal that is attached to the bar. Also, a ribbon bar for the Order of the White Eagle with Swords is extremely uncommon. The ribbon bars are fixed to a cloth strip with 4 hooks on the back, each with the French word ‘Depose’ on them, and which would have been attached to a uniform or blazer.