Order of the Star of Romania

Order of the Star of Romania
The Collar (Sash) of The Star of Romania
Awarded by The King of the Romanians (1877 - 1947) The President of Romania
Country	Romania
Type	Multiple grades civil and military national order (listed from lowest to highest): Knight (Cavaler), Officer (Ofiţer), Commodore (Comandor), Grand Officer (Mare Ofiţer), Grand Cross (Mare Cruce) and Sash (Colan)
Eligibility	(1) Civil, military; (2) military units; (3) foreign citizens
Awarded for	(1) Exceptional civil and military services to the Romanian State and the Romanian people; (2) For special acts in time of peace or for heroic acts in time of war; (3) For contributing to the development of the friendship relations with Romania, or for other exceptional services to the Romanian State and the Romanian People
Status	Currently awarded
Statistics
Established	1877 - Romanian War of Independence
First awarded	1877
Last awarded	2009
Total awarded	over 100
Posthumous awards	2
Precedence
Next (higher)	Peacetime: none Wartime: Ordinul "Mihai Viteazul"
Next (lower)	Ordinul naţional "Serviciul Credincios"
The ribbon (peacetime)

The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: Steaua României or Ordinul Naţional "Steaua României" - National Order "Star of Romania") is Romania's highest civil order. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has 6 ranks, from lowest to the highest: Knight (Cavaler), Officer (Ofiţer), Commodore or Commander (Comandor), Grand Officer (Mare Ofiţer), Grand Cross (Mare Cruce) and Sash (Colan).

History

In 1863 Alexandru Ioan Cuza asked the Romanian representative to Paris to contact a well-known jewellery house, to manufacture a decoration. The Krétly House presented a model, immediately accepted by the domnitor, and based on his agreement, 1,000 pieces of the order would be made. It was established that the award would have five ranks: Knight (Cavaler), Officer (Ofiţer), Comandor (Comandor), Grand Officer (Mare Ofiţer), and Grand Cross (Mare Cruce).

Unlike all the other projects of decorations, realized in the country, or inspired by the French Légion d'honneur, or by other orders that had as their insignia a Maltese cross, the model proposed by the Krétly house was a blue cross crosslet (cruce repetată), a design that, at that time, was not used before in decoration design.

Cuza decided that the name of the decoration would be "The Order of the Union" ("Ordinul Unirii"). It was planned to institute it on January 24, 1864, when it would be celebrated the fifth anniversary of his election, moment that marked the Small Union. Because of this, tha motto of the order was established to fit the event: "GENERE ET CORDES FRATRES" ("BROTHERS THROUGH ORIGINS AND FEELINGS"). The obverse would bear the numbers "5" and "24", the days of January when he was elected in Moldova and Wallachia.

Being unable to institute and award the decoration, Cuza gives the insignia as a personal present, not as an actual decoration. Most of the insignia remained stored in the Royal Palace's dungeons.

In April 1877, as the war with the Ottoman Empire, the debate regarding the institution of a Romanian decoration was revived. Mihail Kogălniceanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the I. C. Brătianu cabinet, took part in the debates in the Assembly of Deputies regarding the institution of a national decoration. Because of the supply of "The Order of The Union", it was decided that the shape of the decoration would be the same, modifying only the domnitor's seal. The motto was also changed, because the old one was not appropriate to the moment, to "IN FIDE SALUS" ("IN FAITH IS THE SALVATION"). Regarding the name, Kogălniceanu insisted on "Steaua Dunării" ("The Star of The Danube").

Certificate confirming that the Star of Romania was awarded to Ernesto Burzagli in the name of King Ferdinand I.

The name "Steaua României" ("The Star of Romania") appeared on May 10, 1887, when the law was voted in the Parliament, as the first law of the Sovereign Romania.

By Royal Decree no. 1545/1932, King Carol II modified the shape and the place of the decoration in the national hierarchy. As a result, in 1932, it dropped from first place (where it had been since 1906) to fourth place (after the Order Carol I and the Order Ferdinand I). In 1937, it dropped to seventh place. The main shape of the order, the blue repeated cross (called also "Romanian cross") was kept, but the rays between the cross' arms were replaced by four heraldic eagles with wings spread, the insignia of King Carol I was placed on the obverse, and the reverse bore the year of its establishment, "1877". Also the number of persons that could be awarded The Star of Romania is increased, as follows:

• Knight (Cavaler): 1,000 civilians and 350 military;
• Officer (Ofiţer): 500 civilians and 150 military;
• Commodore or Commander (Comandor): 200 civilians and 75 military;
• Grand Officer (Mare Ofiţer): 75 civilians and 25 military;
• Grand Cross (Mare Cruce): 35 civilians and 10 military.

In 1938, the order was given a superior rank, called "Clasa I" (First Class in English), between the Grand Officer rank and the Grand Cross rank, with a maximum of 50 civilians and 15 military personnel.

The rules established by King Carol II were changed by General Ion Antonescu (who became Conducător on September 4, 1940). Generally, the rules were the ones used during World War I. The order "The Star of Romania" became the second in the national hierarchy, after The Order "Michael the Brave".

Inspired by the German Iron Cross, Ion Antonescu decided that the first three grades of the orders the Star of Romania and the Crown of Romania, with spades (swords), and the ribbon of The Medal "The Military Virtue" would be awarded for exceptionally brave acts with an oak leaf, attached to the ribbon.

After 1948, all the existing decorations were outlawed, and their wearing was forbidden. Just by keeping the insignia one was considered a delinquent in the first years of communism.

After many attempts, in 1998/1999 the National Order "The Star of Romania" was reinstituted, with a design similar to the one used in 1932, but without the insignia of King Carol I, and with the republican insignia.

Select recipients

First issue (1877-1948)

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

• Ernesto Burzagli, No. 67616.[1]
• Archduke Eugen of Austria (1881)
• Jan Karcz
• Aristide Razu (1918)
• Hendrik Pieter Nicolaas Muller (1922)
• Artur Phleps (1920, 1933)
• Edward Rydz-Śmigły
• Amha Selassie of Ethiopia
• Rudolf Walden
• Fritz Witt (1942)
• Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala (1935)

Second issue (1998-)

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Sash rank

• Abdullah II of Jordan (2005)
• Albert II of Belgium (2009)
• Albert II, Prince of Monaco (2009)
• Valdas Adamkus (2001)
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (2000)
• Martti Ahtisaari (1998)
• Ilham Aliyev (2004)
• Kofi Annan (2001)
• Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2002)
• Giuseppe Arzilli (2004)
• Beatrix of the Netherlands (2001)
• Andrew Bertie (2002)
• George W. Bush (2002)
• Fernando Henrique Cardoso (2000)
• Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (2003)
• Jacques Chirac (1998)
• The Prince of Hanover (1999)
• Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (2003)
• Süleyman Demirel (1999)
• Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (2003)
• Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (2000)
• Eddie Fenech Adami (2004)
• Alberto Fujimori (1998)
• Árpád Göncz (2000)
• Tarja Halonen (2006)
• Harald V of Norway (1999)
• Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (2004)
• Juan Carlos I of Spain (2003)
• Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1999)
• Milan Kučan (2002)
• Margrethe II of Denmark (2000)
• Ricardo Lagos (2004)
• Émile Lahoud (2001)
• Petru Lucinschi (2000)
• Ferenc Mádl (2002)
• Rexhep Meidani (1999)
• Stjepan Mesić (2000)
• Nursultan Nazarbayev (1999)
• Roberto Raschi (2004)
• Arnold Rüütel (2003)
• Jorge Sampaio (2000)
• Rudolf Schuster (2000)
• Angelo Sodano (2004)
• Costis Stephanopoulos (1999)
• Petar Stoyanov (1998)
• Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (2001)
• Ezer Weizman (1999)
• Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (2002)
• Ernesto Zedillo (2000)
• Teoctist Arăpaşu (2007, posthumous)
• Mugur Isărescu (2010)
• Mihai Ghimpu (2010)
• George Abela (2010)
• Valdis Zatlers (2011)
• Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2011)

Grand Cross rank

• Queen Beatrix (2001)
• Yıldırım Akbulut (1999)
• Teoctist Arăpaşu (1999)
• Ehud Barak (1999)
• Bartholomew I of Constantinople (1999)
• Silvio Berlusconi (2002)
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali (2000)
• Diodoros of Jerusalem (1999)
• Doina Cornea (2000)
• Pat Cox (2002)
• Bülent Ecevit (1999)
• Laurent Fabius (1999)
• Rafik Hariri (2002)
• Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark (2000)
• Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (2004)
• Mugur Isărescu (2000)
• Lionel Jospin (1999)
• Jean-Claude Juncker (2003)
• Karekin II (2000)
• Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu (1999)
• Liviu Librescu (2007, posthumous)
• Adrian Năstase (2002)
• George Palade (2000)
• Göran Persson (2004)
• Christian Poncelet (1999)
• Romano Prodi (2000)
• Jean-Pierre Raffarin (2004)
• George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen (2000)
• Gil Carlos Rodriguez Iglesias (2002)
• Gerhard Schröder (2004)
• Queen Sofía of Spain (2003)
• Wolfgang Schüssel (2004)
• Walter Schwimmer (2001)
• Vassilios Skouris (2004)
• Edmund Stoiber (1999)
• Alexandru Todea (1999)
• Grigore Vieru (2009)
• Radu Beligan (2008)
• Mariana Nicolescu (2008)

Grand Officer rank

• Nicolae Cajal (2000)
• Liviu Ciulei (2000)
• Ileana Cotrubaş (2000)
• Lucian Pintilie (2000)
• Dumitru Prunariu (2000)

Commodore rank

• Mircea Dinescu (2000)
• Alexandru Zub (2000)
• Lucian Croitoru (2000)
• Chris Lauzen (2006)
• Angela Gheorghiu (2010)

Officer rank

• Marian-Jean Marinescu (2000)
• Randolph L. Braham (2004) (Returned 2005)
• Anton Crihan

Knight rank

• Gică Petrescu (2003)
• Corneliu Vadim Tudor (2004)
• László Tőkés (2009)

See also

• List of military decorations
• National Decorations System (Romania)

External links

• (Romanian) Ordinul naţional "Steaua României", Presidency of Romania website
• (Romanian) Recipients of the order (Excel sheet), Presidency of Romania website