Order of the Crown (Romania)

Order of the Crown of Romania Ordinul Coroana României
Knight's Cross with swords (Model 1932-1947)
Awarded by King of the Romanians
Type	Dynastic order
Royal house	Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Religious affiliation	Romanian Orthodox
Ribbon	Light blue with silver stripes
Motto	PRIN NOI INSINE (By ourselves)
Awarded for	For conspicuous and special merit
Status	Abolished in 1947
Grand Master	Michael of Romania
Grades (w/ post-nominals)	Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, Knight
Established	14 March 1881 1881 - 1947 (National Order)
The two ribbon bars of the order

The Order of the Crown (of Romania) is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881^[1] by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947.^[2]

Classes

The order had five classes, most of them with limited numbers:

• Grand Cross (limited to 25)
• Grand Officer (limited to 80)
• Commander (limited to 150)
• Officer (limited to 300)
• Knight (unlimited numbers)

Insignia

Decoration

Knight's Cross (Model before 1932)

The religious character of the model of 1881 is a red-enamelled, eight-pointed Maltese Cross with wider margin of gold and white. In the angles of the cross were "C"s, the initials of the founder. The medallion in the middle of the cross shows a royal crown on dark red background. The medallion is surrounded by a white-frost edge surrounded the inscription PRIN NOI INSINE (by ourselves) and the order's foundation date of 14 March 1881. On the back of the medallion is the day of the statute as well as the years 1866 (referendum), 1877 (complete Romanian independence), 1881 (proclamation of Carol as King of Romania).

Other

The Order's sash or ribbon is light blue with two silver stripes. Grand Cross members wore the decoration on a sash from the right shoulder to left waist, Grand Officers and Commanders around the neck and Knights and Officers on the left breast. For the two highest classes of the order an eight-pointed silver star was also worn on the left breast, Grand Cross members wearing it as an order-insignia and Grand Officers as a medallion, surrounded by 4 royal crowns since 1932.

Recipients

• Jean-Baptiste Billot
• Josef Harpe
• William Horwood
• August Kanitz
• Hendrik Pieter Nicolaas Muller
• George Julian Zolnay
• Erich Abraham (commander class)
• Radomir Putnik
• Živojin Mišić

References

1. ^ Orders, Decorations, and Medals, Order of the Crown of Romania
2. ^ The order was disbanded in 1947, after King Michael abdicated the throne upon the Soviet occupation of Romania.

• Brockhaus Konversationslexikon Vol 10 Page 0757
• ICOC Register