Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) is an Order of France, established on May 2, 1957 by the Minister of Culture and confirmed as part of l'Ordre National du Mérite by Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.

French recipients must be at least 30 years old, must respect French civil law, and must have "significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance", according to French government guidelines.

Members are not, however, limited to French nationals, nor to those who work in France or in French. Recipients have included, for instance, the Austrian film director Michael Haneke, the Chinese writer Han Shaogong, and the American film actress Uma Thurman. Recipients from outside France may be allowed into the Order "without condition of age".

The Order has three grades, as follows:

Commandeur (Commander) - wears the badge on a necklet, up to 20 recipients a year;
Officier (Officer) - wears the badge on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest, up to 60 recipients a year;
Chevalier (Knight) - wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest, up to 200 recipients a year.

The badge of the Order is an eight-armed, green-enamelled "asterisk", in gilt for commanders and officers, in silver for knights; the obverse central disc has the letters "A" and "L" on a white enamelled background, surrounded by a golden ring bearing the words "République Française" (Republic of France). The reverse central disc features the head of Marianne on a golden background, surrounded by a golden ring bearing the words "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres". The commander's badge is topped by a gilt twisted ring.

The ribbon of the Order is green with four white stripes.

Non-French recipients