Order of the Star of Romania

Order of the Star of Romania
The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: Ordinul Steaua României) is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the President of Romania, and has six grades, from lowest to the highest: Knight, Officer, Commander, Grand Officer, Grand Cross, and Grand Cross with Collar.
History
In 1863, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, asked the Romanian representative to Paris to contact the then well-known jewellery house Krétly, to manufacture a state decoration. Krétly presented a model, which was immediately accepted by the domnitor, and based on his agreement, 1,000 pieces of the order were made. It was decided that the order would have five ranks: Knight (Cavaler), Officer (Ofițer), Commander (Comandor), Grand Officer (Mare Ofițer), and Grand Cross (Mare Cruce).
Unlike all other decorations in that time that were mostly inspired on the French Légion d'honneur, or which had their insignia like a Maltese cross, the model proposed by Krétly for this order was a blue cross crosslet (cruce repetată), a design that was then unique in decorational design.
The domnitor decided that the name of the honour would be "The Order of the Union" ("Ordinul Unirii"). It was planned to institute the order on 24 January 1864, the date when the 5th anniversary of his election would be celebrated and a moment that marked the unification of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Because of this, the motto of the new order would fit the event: "GENERE ET CORDES FRATRES" ("BROTHERS THROUGH ORIGINS AND FEELINGS"). The obverse of the insignia would bear the numbers "5" and "24", the days of January when he was elected in both Moldova and Wallachia.
However, due to the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup, he was unable to actually institute the order, and he awarded the insignia therefore only as a personal present, not as a state decoration. Most of the insignia produced for him remained stored in the Royal Palace's cellars.
In April 1877, when Romania gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, the debate regarding the institution of Romanian decorations was revived. Mihail Kogălniceanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ion Brătianu cabinet, took part in the debates in the Assembly of Deputies regarding the institution of a state decoration. Because of the already earlier supplied "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").
The name "Steaua României" ("The Star of Romania") appeared on 10 May 1877, 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 changed the order of precedence in the Romanian honours system. As a result, in 1932, The Star of Romania dropped in precedence from second place (where it had been since 1906) to fourth place (after the Order of Carol I and the ). 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 was increased:
Knight (Cavaler): 1,000 civilians and 350 military;
Officer (Ofițer): 500 civilians and 150 military;
Commander (Comandor): 200 civilians and 75 military;
Grand Officer (Mare Ofițer): 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 statutes established by King Carol II were changed by General Ion Antonescu (who became Conducător on 4 September 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 that of the Order of 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.
In 1993, the idea of reinstating the oldest Order was proposed within the Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. After several 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.
Grades
As per Law 29/2000, regarding Romania's national system of decorations, there are currently six grades:
1st Class: Collar (Colan);
2nd Class: Grand Cross (Mare Cruce);
3rd Class: Grand Officer (Mare Ofițer);
4th Class: Commander (Comandor);
5th Class: Officer (Ofițer);
6th Class: Knight (Cavaler).
Notable recipients
First issue (1877–1948)
Ernesto Burzagli
Archduke Eugen of Austria (1881)
Aurel Vlaicu (1911)
Pratap Singh of Idar (1921)
Jan Karcz
Aristide Razu (1918)
Harry Gideon Wells (1919)
Ismail of Johor (1920)
Hendrik Pieter Nicolaas Muller (1922)
Scarlat Cantacuzino
Artur Phleps
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Jack Corbu (1930)
Stanisław Maczek
Amha Selassie of Ethiopia
Rudolf Walden
Fritz Witt (1942)
Martin Unrein
Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala (1935)
Walter Staudinger (1942)
Ismail of Johor (1942)
Walther Wenck (1943)
Emmerich Jordan (1944)
Samuel C. Cumming
Paul de Smet de Naeyer
Joseph Maria von Radowitz
Klement Gottwald (1947)
Second issue (since 1998)
Foreign citizens
By class
1st Class Collars
Abdullah II of Jordan
George Abela
Valdas Adamkus
Albert II of Belgium
Albert II, Prince of Monaco
Amha Selassie
Teoctist Arăpașu
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Traian Băsescu
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Carl XVI Gustaf
Jacques Chirac
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Emil Constantinescu
Nicolae Corneanu
Ion Dragalina
Andrzej Duda
Elizabeth II
Matthew Festing
Joachim Gauck
Mihai Ghimpu
Dalia Grybauskaitė
Tarja Halonen
Harald V of Norway
Ioan Holender
François Hollande
Ion Iliescu
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah
Lech Kaczyński
Andrej Kiska
Thomas Klestil
Émile Lahoud
Margrethe II of Denmark
Sergio Mattarella
Michael I of Romania
Giorgio Napolitano
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Josef Šnejdárek
Angelo Sodano
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Petar Stoyanov
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
Gherman Titov
Ezer Weizman
2nd Class Grand Crosses
Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal
Martti Ahtisaari
Yıldırım Akbulut
Albert I of Belgium
Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander of Battenberg
Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
Prince Alfons of Bavaria
Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo
Teoctist Arăpașu
Count Kasimir Felix Badeni
Ehud Barak
Bartholomew I of Constantinople
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Kurt Beck
Radu Beligan
Silvio Berlusconi
Andrew Bertie
Birendra of Nepal
Herbert von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Albrecht von Boeselager
Victor, Prince Napoléon
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Josip Broz Tito
Bernhard von Bülow
Ernesto Burzagli
Leo von Caprivi
Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland
Carol I of Romania
Charles, Prince of Wales
Christian IX of Denmark
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
Doina Cornea
Pat Cox
Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem
Bülent Ecevit
Edmond de Gaiffier d'Hestroy
Edward VII
Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
Archduke Eugen of Austria
Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke
Laurent Fabius
Felipe VI of Spain
Ferdinand I of Romania
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Frederick VIII of Denmark
Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt
Frederick III, German Emperor
Prince Frederick of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Kurt Fricke
Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia
Prince Georg of Bavaria
Agenor Maria Gołuchowski
Dan Grigore
Eremia Grigorescu
Wilhelm von Hahnke
Ionel Haiduc
Tarja Halonen
Rafic Hariri
Prince Heinrich of Hesse and by Rhine
Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929)
Stefan Hell
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Klaus Iohannis
Mugur Isărescu
Prince Joachim of Denmark
Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria
Lionel Jospin
Jean-Claude Juncker
Ioan Kalinderu
Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor
Karekin II
Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern
Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu
Konstantin of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
Aleksey Kuropatkin
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski
Chuan Leekpai
Prince Leopold of Bavaria
Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern
Liviu Librescu
Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse
Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria
Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria
Luís I of Portugal
Horia Macellariu
Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Michael I of Romania
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
Louis Michel
Milan I of Serbia
Helmuth von Moltke the Younger
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Hendrik Pieter Nicolaas Muller
Valeriu Munteanu (politician)
Adrian Năstase
Nicholas II of Russia
Mariana Nicolesco
Olav V of Norway
Archduke Otto of Austria (1865–1906)
George Emil Palade
Queen Paola of Belgium
Alexander August Wilhelm von Pape
Pedro II of Brazil
Maurice Pellé
Göran Persson
Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen
Christian Poncelet
Romano Prodi
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar
Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Archduke Rainer Ferdinand of Austria
Ioan Rășcanu
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen
Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias
Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein
Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
Edward Rydz-Śmigły
Gerhard Schröder
Wolfgang Schüssel
Walter Schwimmer
Queen Silvia of Sweden
Jagatjit Singh
Pratap Singh of Idar
Vassilios Skouris
Queen Sofía of Spain
Edmund Stoiber
Jan Syrový
Eduard Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alexandru Todea
Ernest Troubridge
Charles d'Ursel
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
Grigore Vieru
Charles J. Vopicka
Rudolf Walden
Georg Wassilko von Serecki
Alan Watson, Baron Watson of Richmond
Count Hans Weiss
William, Prince of Hohenzollern
William, Prince of Wied
Sergei Witte
August zu Eulenburg
Adrian Zuckerman (attorney)
3rd Class Grand Officers
Dinu Adameșteanu
Prince Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel
Radu Aldulescu (musician)
Ioan Arhip
Constantin C. Arion
Randolph L. Braham (Resigned)
Gheorghe Brega
Nicolae Cajal
Alexandru Cernat
Dietrich von Choltitz
Gheorghe Cipăianu
Liviu Ciulei
Nadia Comăneci
Ileana Cotrubaș
Nicolae Dăscălescu
Constantin Dumitrescu (general)
Ivan Fichev
Ismail of Johor
Lucien Loizeau
Marian-Jean Marinescu
Lucian Pintilie
Constantin Poenaru
Dumitru Prunariu
Ioan Mihail Racoviță
Constantin Sănătescu
Hans-Georg von Seidel
Alexandru Slătineanu
Simion Stoilow
Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș
Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa
Elie Wiesel
Arthur Zimmermann
Alexandru Zub
4th Class Commanders
Robert Aderholt
Vasile Atanasiu
Grigore Bălan
James Berry (surgeon)
Ion Boițeanu
Randolph L. Braham
Leonid Brezhnev
Karl von Bülow
Ronald L. Burgess Jr.
Leopold Bürkner
Ernesto Burzagli
Ion Buzdugan
Ben Cardin
Nicolae Ciupercă
Constantin Constantinescu-Claps
Aurel Cosma
Lucian Croitoru
Salvator Cupcea
Mircea Dinescu
Eugen Doga
Émile Dossin de Saint-Georges
Mihai Drăgănescu
Wim van Eekelen
Ștefan Fălcoianu
Nikolaus von Falkenhorst
Angela Gheorghiu
Hans Globke
Maximilian Hacman
Orrin Hatch
Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck
Francis Howard (British Army officer, born 1848)
Dietrich von Hülsen-Haeseler
Sergěj Ingr
Ron Johnson
Hunor Kelemen
Gunther Krichbaum
Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski
Tadeusz Kutrzeba
Alexandru Lapedatu
Chris Lauzen
Wolf Lepenies
Charles W. Lyons
Stanisław Maczek
Solomon Marcus
Valeriu Moldovan
Vasile Moldoveanu
Teodor Negoiță
Devin Nunes
Artur Phleps
Tadeusz Piskor
Karl von Plettenberg
David Popescu
Andrei Rădulescu
Aristide Razu
Mike Rogers (Alabama politician)
Frank Rolleston
Marco Rubio
Nicolae Samsonovici
Gustav von Senden-Bibran
Ioanel Sinescu
Ilie Șteflea
Rudolf Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten
Anastase Stolojan
Dejan Subotić
Nicolae Tătăranu
Rudolf Toussaint
Alexandru Vulpe
Jackie Walorski
Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski
5th Class Officers
Paul Alexiu
Ilie Antonescu
Petre Antonescu (general)
Constantion Bădescu
Ștefan Balaban
Ioan A. Bassarabescu
Constantin Brătescu
Mihai Ciucă
Constantin Climescu
Mihail Corbuleanu
Dumitru Coroamă
Ilie Crețulescu
Anton Crihan
Constantin Cristescu
Nicolae Dabija (soldier)
Dumitru Dămăceanu
Alexandru Dobriceanu
Constantin Doncea
Anton Durcovici
Constantin Eftimiu
Eremia Grigorescu
Jan Karcz
Radu Korne
Dan Lupașcu
Raoul Magrin-Vernerey
Gheorghe Manoliu
Sergiu Niță
Alexandru Pastia
Oana Pellea
Irina Petrescu
Artur Phleps
Constantin Poenaru
Iulian Pop
David Praporgescu
Nicolae Samsonovici
Alexandru Șerbănescu
Oleg Serebrian
Constantin Tobescu
6th Class Knights
Ecaterina Andronescu
Gheorghe Avramescu
Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici
Colin Robert Ballard
Gelu Barbu
Viorel P. Barbu
Ion Besoiu
Marcian Bleahu
Mihai Brediceanu
Nicolae Cambrea
Scarlat Cantacuzino
Ion Caramitru
Nicolae Ciupercă
Dina Cocea
Titus Corlățean
Pierre de Coubertin
Corina Crețu
Ioan Culcer
Samuel C. Cumming
Marțian Dan
Neagu Djuvara
Valer Dorneanu
Mariana Drăgescu
Tudor Gheorghe
Marcel Guguianu
Thomas Hunton
Gabriel Liiceanu
Leonard Mociulschi
Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan
Iulia Motoc
Marioara Murărescu
Dan Nica
Andrei Oișteanu
Richard W. O'Neill
Gabriel Oprea
Octavian Paler
Gică Petrescu
Teodosie Petrescu
Dumitru Protase
Colea Răutu
Aristide Razu
Mihai Șora
Mihai Tănăsescu
Radu Timofte
László Tőkés (Withdrawn)
Corneliu Vadim Tudor (Withdrawn)(2004 until 2007, when it was withdrawn)
Petre Țuțea
Virginia Zeani
Unknown Class
Otto Adler
Ilham Aliyev
Petre Andrei
Kofi Annan
Gheorghe Arsenescu
Giuseppe Arzilli
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Tarcisio Bertone
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Josef Bílý
Volkan Bozkır
Constantin Budișteanu
George W. Bush
Gheorghe Buzatu
Mihail Cămărașu
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Marin Ceaușu
Mauro Chiaruzzi
Henri Cihoski
Jack Corbu
Paul de Smet de Naeyer
Süleyman Demirel
Radko Dimitriev
Roman Dmowski
Werner Ehrig
Eddie Fenech Adami
Alberto Fujimori
Victor Gomoiu
Árpád Göncz
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Gheorghe Ionescu-Sisești
Emmerich Jordan
Juan Carlos I
Mihail Kogălniceanu
Stiliyan Kovachev
Milan Kučan
Leonid Kuchma
Ricardo Lagos
Ivan Loiko
Mircea Lucescu
Petru Lucinschi
Ferenc Mádl
Leon Malhomme
Rexhep Meidani
Stjepan Mesić
Miron Mitrea
Alois Mock
Aleksander Piotr Mohl
Maria Morganti
Dumitru C. Moruzi
Bolesław Mościcki
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Danail Nikolaev
Pietro Parolin
Rosen Plevneliev
Kazimierz Porębski
David Popovici
Ștefan Procopiu
Roberto Raschi
Arnold Rüütel
Said Halim Pasha
Jorge Sampaio
Eustachy Sapieha
Marian Sârbu
Rudolf Schuster
Walter Staudinger
Michel Suleiman
Jan Szembek (diplomat)
Păstorel Teodoreanu
Nicolae Timofti
Martin Unrein
Guy Verhofstadt
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Matei Vlădescu
Harry Gideon Wells
Walther Wenck
Fritz Witt
Valdis Zatlers
Ferdynand Zarzycki
Ernesto Zedillo
See also
List of military decorations
National Decorations System (Romania)
References
Sources
Ordinul național "Steaua României", Presidency of Romania website
Recipients of the order (Excel sheet), Presidency of Romania website
Romanian decorations
Military awards and decorations of Romania
Star of Romania, Order of the