Direct from Brussels, Belgium.
Baron Henri Estramant presented the Certificate of Merit on behalf of Diplomat Magazine to parting Ambassador H.E. Félix Sagbo Kodjo at the premises of his embassy in Brussels on 30 July 2014.
The entire embassy staff attended the ceremony of bestowal.
Ambassador Sagbo Kodjo has served as Ambassador based in Brussels since October 2004, representing the Togolese Republic vis-à-vis Belgium, the European Union, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, The Holy Siege as well as the OPCW. Until June 2014 he was also Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in Belgium, the ACP (African-Caribbean-Pacific) Diplomatic corps in Belgium, and Vice-Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Belgium. Albeit the oldest serving ambassador until his departure, Belgium still follows the old practice of granting the deanship of the diplomatic corps to the Nuntius Apostolicus.
Lamentably Ambassador Sagbo was not able to bid farewell to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands because the latter was already on holidays, but did manage to meet HM The King of the Belgians as well as HRH The Grand Duke of Luxemburg for a farewell audience.
Certificates of recognition handled to the ambassadors, have the coat of arms of the Stokbroekx family. In the picture Mr. Marc Stokbroekx signing the certificate of Ambassador Pierre Menat.
Description of the coat of arms of the Stokbroekx family
The coat of arms of the Stockbroekx family finds its origin in the combination of the symbols of the duke of von Heinsberg and the duchess of van Loon, two members of well-known aristocratic families in 1400. On the left we see a pattern of red and gold stripes which symbolizes the duchess of the van Loon family. On the right we see a white lion on a red background symbolizing the duke of the von Heinsberg family. Across the two parts there is a blue beam which is known as the “acknowledged bastard stripe”. This indicates that the first descendant Johan van Stokbroekx, was born out of a so-called Danish marriage, which means his parents married out of love. However, this form gave no rights to the descendants. Therefore the duke of von Heinsberg and the duchess of van Loon created this new coat of arms together with a new name, Stockbroekx. The actual family Stockbroekx are the direct descendants of Johan van Stockbroekx.
