Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
File:Med-grcr-placca.jpg Breast star of a Knight Grand Cross of the Republic
Type	Order of knighthood
Eligibility	Civilian and military divisions
Status	Extant
Established	3 March 1951
Website	https://www.quirinale.it/page/omri
Precedence
Next (lower)	Military Order of Italy

The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Template:Lang-it) was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951.

The highest ranking honour of the Republic, it is awarded for "merit acquired by the nation" in the fields of literature, the arts, economy, public service, and social, philanthropic and humanitarian activities and for long and conspicuous service in civilian and military careers. The post-nominal letters for the order are OMRI. The order effectively replaced national orders such as the Civil Order of Savoy (1831), the Order of the Crown of Italy (1868), the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1572) and the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (1362).

Grades

Investiture takes place biannually on 2 June, the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic and on 27 December, the anniversary of the promulgation of the Italian Constitution. However, those awards on Presidential motu proprio, related to termination of service or granted to foreigners may be made at any time. The badge, modified in 2001, bears the inscription Al Merito della Repubblica encircling the national coat of arms on the obverse and the Latin Patriæ Unitati (for the union of the country) and Civium Libertati (for the liberty of the citizens) encircling the head of Italia Turrita on the reverse. The six degrees with corresponding ribbons are as follows (with numbers to June 2013):

File:Med-nastro.jpg

Insignia of a Knight of the Italian Republic, since 2001

Ribbon (1951–2001)	Ribbon (since 2001)	Class (English)	Full title in Italian	Awards
		Knight Grand Cross with Collar	Cavaliere di Gran Croce Decorato di Gran Cordone Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	199
		1st Class / Knight Grand Cross	Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	9,152
		2nd Class / Grand Officer	Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	24,170
		3rd Class / Commander	Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	45,843
		4th Class / Officer	Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	29,765
		5th Class / Knight	Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	127,654

The order is bestowed by decree of the President of the Italian Republic, as head of the orders of knighthood, on the recommendation of the President of the Council of Ministers. Except in exceptional circumstances, no one can be awarded for the first time a rank higher than Knight. The minimum age requirement is normally 35.

Grand Cross with Collar

Recipients:

• Presidency of President Luigi Einaudi (12 May 1948–11 May 1955):
  • 28/12/1952 – Greece – King Paul I (1947–1964)
  • 11/03/1953 – Brazil – President Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945; 1951–1954)
  • 30/05/1953 – Monaco – Prince Rainier III (1949–2005)
  • 16/07/1953 – Lebanon – President Camille Chamoun (1952–1958)
  • 06/10/1953 – Venezuela – President Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1953–1958)
  • 16/11/1953 – Argentina – President Juan Domingo Perón (1946–1955; 1973–1974)
  • 31/12/1953 – Germany – President Theodor Heuss (1949–1959)
  • 13/02/1954 – Haiti – President Paul Magloire (1950–1956)
  • 31/07/1954 – Dominican Republic – President Rafael Trujillo (1930–1938; 1942–1952)
  • 06/09/1954 – Chile – President Carlos Ibanez del Campo (1927–1931; 1952–1958)
  • 17/11/1954 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Liutenant Grand Master Fra' Antonio Hercolani Fava Simonetti (1951–1955)
  • 06/12/1954 – France – President René Coty (1954–1959)
  • 12/02/1955 – El Salvador – President Oscar Osorio (1950–1956)

• Presidency of Giovanni Gronchi (11 May 1955–11 May 1962):
  • 11/05/1955 – Italy – Former President Luigi Einaudi (1948–1955)
  • 21/10/1955 – Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie (1930–1974)
  • 16/01/1956 – Brazil – President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956–1961)
  • 05/06/1956 – Italy – Former President Enrico De Nicola (1946–1948)
  • 20/09/1956 – Liberia – President William Tubman (1944–1971)
  • 15/11/1956 – Peru – President Manuel Prado Ugarteche (1939–1945; 1956–1962)
  • 18/01/1957 – Costa Rica – President José Figueres Ferrer (1948–1949; 1953–1958; 1970–1974)
  • 06/03/1957 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Liutenant Grand Master Fra' Ernesto Paternò Castello di Carcaci (1955–1962)
  • 11/03/1957 – Ireland — President Seán T. O'Kelly (1945–1959)
  • 13/05/1957 – Turkey – President Celal Bayar (1950–1960)
  • 11/06/1957 – Panama – President Ernesto de la Guardia (1956–1960)
  • 26/08/1957 – Iran – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979)
  • 01/10/1957 – El Salvador – President José María Lemus (1956–1960)
  • 09/05/1958 – United Kingdom – Queen Elizabeth II (1952–incumbent)
  • 16/06/1959 – France – President Charles De Gaulle (1959–1969)
  • 11/06/1960 – Argentina – President Arturo Frondizi (1958–1962)
  • 08/09/1960 – Finland – President Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (1956–1982)
  • 22/09/1960 – Thailand – King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1946–2016)
  • 29/11/1960 – Uruguay – President Benito Nardone (1960–1961)
  • 06/04/1961 – Uruguay – President Eduardo Víctor Haedo (1961–1962)

• Presidency of President Giorgio Napolitano (15 May 2006–14 January 2015):
  • 11/10/2006 – Ghana – President John Agyekum Kufour (2001–2009)
  • 20/02/2007 – Slovakia – President Ivan Gašparovič (2004–2014)
  • 08/06/2007 – Austria – President Heinz Fischer (2004–2016)
  • 09/10/2007 – Chile – President Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010; 2014–2018)
  • 30/10/2007 – Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud (2005–2015)
  • 01/09/2008 – Finland – President Tarja Halonen (2000–2012)
  • 14/10/2008 – Lebanon – President Michel Suleiman (2008–2014)
  • 27/10/2008 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing (2008–2017)
  • 02/09/2009 – South Korea – President Lee Myung-bak (2008–2013)
  • 17/10/2009 – Turkey – President Abdullah Gül (2007–2014)
  • 11/03/2010 – Syria – President Bashar Al-Assad (2000–incumbent) Revoked by the President of the Republic on 28 September 2012 for "indignity"
  • 26/04/2010 – Kuwait – Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2006–incumbent)
  • 25/06/2010 – Malta – President George Abela (2009–2014)
  • 11/01/2011 – Slovenia – President Danilo Türk (2007–2012)
  • 06/07/2011 – Croatia – President Ivo Josipović (2010–2015)
  • 07/09/2011 – Romania – President Traian Băsescu (2004–2014)
  • 10/06/2012 – Poland – President Bronisław Komorowski (2010–2015)
  • 15/11/2012 – France – President François Hollande (2012–2017)
  • 20/02/2013 – Germany – President Joachim Gauck (2012–2017)
  • 04/03/2014 – Albania – President Bujar Nishani (2012–2017)
  • 05/05/2014 – Slovenia – President Borut Pahor (2012–incumbent)
  • 04/06/2014 – San Marino – Captains Regent Luca Beccari and Valeria Ciavatta (2014–2014)

• Presidency of President Sergio Mattarella (3 February 2015–incumbent):
  • 23/11/2015 - Greece - President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015–incumbent)
  • 11/03/2016 – Cameroon – President Paul Biya (1982–incumbent)
  • 30/05/2016 – Romania – President Klaus Iohannis (2014–incumbent)
  • 21/06/2016 – Mexico – President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018)
  • 04/08/2016 – Bulgaria – President Rosen Plevneliev (2012–2017)
  • 23/01/2017 – Tunisia – President Beji Caid Essebsi (2014–2019)
  • 02/05/2017 – Argentina – President Mauricio Macri (2015–incumbent)
  • 19/06/2017 – Netherlands – King Willem-Alexander (2013–incumbent)
  • 07/09/2017 – Malta – President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (2014–2019)
  • 18/09/2017 – Finland – President Sauli Niinistö (2012–incumbent)
  • 29/11/2017 – Portugal – President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2016–incumbent)
  • 05/06/2018 – Estonia – President Kersti Kaljulaid (2016–incumbent)
  • 22/06/2018 – Lithuania – President Dalia Grybauskaitė (2009–2019)
  • 26/06/2018 – Latvia – President Raimonds Vējonis (2015–2019)
  • 12/07/2018 – Azerbaijan – President Ilham Aliyev (2003–incumbent)
  • 25/07/2018 – Armenia – President Armen Sarkissian (2018–incumbent)
  • 27/06/2019 - Austria - President Alexander Van der Bellen (2017–incumbent)
  • 19/09/2019 - Germany - President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2017–incumbent)

See also

• List of Italian orders of knighthood
• Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
• Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus

External links

• Presidenza della Repubblica - Le Onorificenze Template:It
• Ordini dinastici della Real Casa di Savoia Template:It