Order of the Aztec Eagle

Order of the Aztec Eagle
The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners in the country.
History
It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to the services given to Mexico or humankind by foreigners. It corresponds to similar distinctions given to Mexican citizens such as the Condecoración Miguel Hidalgo or the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor. It is given by the office of the foreign minister on the instructions of a Council established for this purpose headed by the President. Its naming is partially taken from the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle, which was created by Maximilian I of Mexico on January 1, 1865.
Design
There is some design similarity of the order with the coat of arms of Mexico, particularly the golden eagle holding a rattlesnake, which is associated with the Aztec civilization.
Classes
Since 2011
Since the reform of March 2011, the classes are :
Collar ("Collar"), awarded to heads of state;
Sash of Special Category ("Banda en Categoría Especial"), awarded to prime ministers and heads of government, hereditary princes(ses), consorts of heads of state, or to people whose category is tantamount to the previous;
Sash ("Banda"), awarded to government ministers, secretaries, members of royal families, ambassadors, or individuals whose category is tantamount to the previous;
Plaque ("Placa"), awarded to government undersecretaries, plenipotentiary ministers, consuls general, brigadier generals, rear admirals, as well to those whose category is tantamount to the previous;
Venera (a type of insignia), awarded to ad hoc business representatives, colonels and lieutenant colonels, captains of a ship, equivalent servants of embassies in Mexico, as well to those whose category is tantamount to the previous;
Insignia, awarded to ad interim business representatives and other members of diplomatic missions; captain, navy lieutenant, as well to those whose category is tantamount to the previous and to those cases the Council considers pertinent.
All grades except the collar may be awarded, under the Council's discretion, to distinguished foreigners.
Before 2011
Prior to the 2011 reform, the classes were, in descending order:
Collar ("Collar"), awarded to heads of state;
Grand Cross ("Cruz"), awarded to prime ministers and heads of government
Sash ("Banda"), awarded to government ministers, secretaries and ambassadors
Medal ("Medalla"), awarded to government undersecretaries, plenipotentiary ministers, as well to those whose category is tantamount to the previous;
Plaque ("Placa"), awarded to ad hoc business representatives, colonels and lieutenant colonels, captains of a ship, equivalent servants of embassies in Mexico), as well to those whose category is tantamount to the previous;
Venera (a type of insignia), awarded to ad interim business representatives and other members of diplomatic missions;
Insignia proper, awarded under the Council's discretion; and
Honorable Mention ("Mención Honorífica").
Notable recipients
Royalty
Presidents
Edvard Beneš – Collar (1935)
Dwight David Eisenhower – Collar (1945)
Chiang Kai-shek – Collar (1945)
Juscelino Kubitschek – Collar
Rafael Trujillo – Collar
Charles de Gaulle – Collar
Josip Broz Tito – Collar (1963)
Julius Nyerere – Collar (1975)
Todor Zhivkov
Lennart Meri – Collar (1995)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – Collar (2007)
Michelle Bachelet – Collar (2007)
Nelson Mandela – Sash (2010)
Álvaro Colom – Collar (2011)
Juan Manuel Santos – Collar (2011)
José Mujica – Collar (2014)
Dilma Rousseff – Collar (2015)
Otto Pérez Molina – Collar (2015)
Mauricio Macri – Collar (2016)
Sergio Mattarella – Collar (2016)
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa – Collar (2017)
Pratibha Patil – Sash (2018)
Manuel Luis Quezon – Collar
Politicians
Edmond Leburton
Alexandra Kollontai – Sash (1944)
Henry Harley Arnold – Collar (1945)
Dr. Jože Brilej – Sash (1950s)
Takeo Miki – Sash (1967)
Mark Shurtleff, Utah Attorney General – Plaque (placa) (2006)
Lisa Shoman – Sash (2008)
Ted Kennedy – Sash (2008)
Yves Ducharme
José Manuel García-Margallo (2015)
Benoît Hamon
David Dreier (2017)
Other
Walt Disney (1943)
Spencer Atkinson (1946)
Nettie Lee Benson (1979)
Nigel Davies (1980)
Edward Hidalgo (1980)
Diana Kennedy (1981)
Gabriel García Márquez (1982)
Claudio Arrau (1982)
Plácido Domingo – (1985)
W. Michael Mathes (1985)
Dr. Donald Winkelmann (1994)
Yuri Knorozov (1995)
Hector P. Garcia (1998)
Satish Gujral – Insignia proper
Charles Butt – (2001)
Melinda Gates – Insignia proper (2007)
Anne d'Harnoncourt – Insignia proper (2007)
Rigoberta Menchú – Insignia proper (2010)
Mario Vargas Llosa (2011)
Amartya Sen (2011)
Bono – Insignia proper (2012)
Takashi Yamanouchi (2013)
Cesar Chavez
Ralph Roeder
Susan Hussey, Baroness Hussey of North Bradley (2015)
Stuart Gulliver (2017)
Roderic Ai Camp (2017)
Rick Bayless (2017)
Jared Kushner – Sash (2018)
Collars
Akihito
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Michelle Bachelet
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Josip Broz Tito
Carl XVI Gustaf
Fidel Castro
Edvard Beneš
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Elizabeth II
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Mauricio Funes
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Haile Selassie
Henryk Jabłoński
Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juscelino Kubitschek
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Mauricio Macri
Margrethe II of Denmark
Mohammed VI of Morocco
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Salman of Saudi Arabia
Grand Crosses
Henry H. Arnold
Princess Benedikte of Denmark
Jože Brilej
Maria Cavaco Silva
Armand De Decker
Guillermo Fernández de Soto
Jean Gol
Peter Hope (diplomat)
Thanat Khoman
Princess Lalla Hasna of Morocco
Edmond Leburton
Mahathir Mohamad
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco
Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb
Olav V of Norway
Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou
Ra'ad bin Zeid
Suharto
Bands
Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria
Charles, Prince of Wales
Infanta Cristina of Spain
Carlos Echeverri Cortés
Felipe VI of Spain
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
Princess Irene of the Netherlands
Ted Kennedy
Alexandra Kollontai
Queen Letizia of Spain
Nelson Mandela
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands
Takeo Miki
Hirofumi Nakasone
Sadako Ogata
Pietro Parolin
Prince Sahle Selassie
Lisa Shoman
Queen Sofía of Spain
Placards
Bill Gates
Charles E. Wilhelm
Alan Yarrow
Insignia
David Brading
Melinda Gates
Satish Gujral
Anne d'Harnoncourt
Alan Knight (historian)
Other or Unknown Classes
Claudio Arrau
Jack Austin (politician)
Rick Bayless
Nettie Lee Benson
Elizabeth Hill Boone
David Brading
Jože Brilej
Charles Butt
David Carrasco
Maria Cavaco Silva
Alfredo Chiaradía
Francesco Cossiga
Nigel Davies (historian)
Michel Descombey
Plácido Domingo
Yves Ducharme
Elżbieta Dzikowska
Luis Echeverría
Trevor Eyton
Jean-Louis Georgelin
Nadine Gordimer
John Greenslade
António Guterres
Jan Hendrix
Edward Hidalgo
Carla Anderson Hills
Alfred Wilkinson Johnson
Michael Kaiser
Friedrich Katz
Diana Kennedy
Jean-Pierre Kingsley
Nobusuke Kishi
Yuri Knorozov
Thomas Krens
Ernest Krogh-Hansen
George Kubler
Jared Kushner
Luis Leal (writer)
Fred Martinez
W. Michael Mathes
Helmut Maucher
José Carlos Millás
Million Dollar Theater
Paula Marcela Moreno Zapata
Julius Nyerere
Óscar Osorio
Benoît Puga
Mariano Rajoy
Ann Richards
Nelson Rockefeller
Rodman Rockefeller
Albert Sabin
Eisaku Satō
Walter Schwimmer
Edward Seaga
David Shaltiel
Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr.
Innis P. Swift
Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton
J. Eric S. Thompson
Mario Vargas Llosa
Baldemar Velasquez
William Wasson
David J. Weber
Eliot Weinberger
Raul Yzaguirre
Gallery
Additional sources
Mexican Chamber of Deputies
Olvera Ayes, David A. "La Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca - Apuntes para su Historia". Cuadernos del Cronista. México, 2011
References
External links
Medals.org.uk
Blasoneshispanos.com
Aztec Eagle
Aztec Eagle, Order of the
1933 establishments in Mexico
Awards established in 1933