Order of Liberty

Order of Liberty
The Order of Liberty, or the Order of Freedom, is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human dignity. The order was created in 1976, after the Carnation Revolution of 1974 in which the corporatist authoritarian Estado Novo regime of António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcello Caetano was deposed. The Grand Collar can also be given by the President of Portugal to former Heads of State and others whose deeds are of an extraordinary nature and particular relevance to Portugal, making them worthy of such a distinction. This can include political acts, physical acts of defense for Portugal, or the good representation of Portugal in other countries.
Grades
The order includes six classes; in decreasing order of seniority, these are:
Grand Collar (Grande-Colar – GColL)
Grand Cross (Grã-Cruz – GCL)
Grand Officer (Grande-Oficial – GOL)
Commander (Comendador – ComL)
Officer (Oficial – OL)
Knight/Dame (Cavaleiro – CvL / Dama – DmL)
Like the other Portuguese orders, the title of Honorary Member (Membro Honorário – MHL) can be awarded to institutions and locals.
List of Grand Collars of the Order of Liberty
Portuguese recipients
9 March 1996: Mário Soares, former President of the Republic
9 March 2006: Jorge Sampaio, former President of the Republic
18 December 2015: António Ramalho Eanes, former President of the Republic
9 March 2016: Aníbal Cavaco Silva, former President of the Republic
Foreign recipients
28 October 1987: François Mitterrand, former President of France
13 October 1988: King Juan Carlos I of Spain
13 December 1990: Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic
11 November 1991: António Mascarenhas Monteiro, former President of Cape Verde
26 August 1992: Patricio Aylwin, former President of Chile
12 October 1992: Miguel Trovoada, former President of São Tomé and Príncipe
11 May 1993: Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland
13 September 1994: Zhelyu Zhelev, former President of Bulgaria
4 October 1995: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil
11 October 1995: Sam Nujoma, former President of Namibia
23 July 2003: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil
11 October 2005: Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of United Nations
30 June 2016: Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique
19 July 2016: François Hollande, former President of France
30 March 2017: Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile
10 April 2017: Jorge Carlos Fonseca, former President of Cape Verde
23 May 2017: Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
13 November 2017: Juan Manuel Santos, former President of Colombia
6 December 2017: Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy
15 April 2018: King Felipe VI of Spain
10 December 2022: Amílcar Cabral (posthumously)
List of Grand Crosses of the Order of Liberty
Foreign recipients
16 July 1988: Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, abstract painter
30 June 1989: Andreas Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece
22 April 1991: Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa
25 January 1993: Árpád Göncz, former President of Hungary
9 June 1993: Xanana Gusmão, former President of East Timor
28 December 1994: Álvaro Lins, former Ambassador of Brazil
24 April 1995: Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez, former Parliamentary Assembly President, Council of Europe
29 May 1995: José Francisco Peña Gómez, former Mayor of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
17 June 1995: Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of Soviet Union
1 March 1996: Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, former Secretary-General of United Nations
22 February 1996: Adolfo Suárez, former Prime Minister of Spain
9 June 1998: José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor
23 July 2003: Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva, former First Lady of Brazil
22 March 2005: Lionel Jospin, former Prime Minister of France
5 January 2006: Albie Sachs, former Judge of Constitutional Court, South Africa
13 May 2016: Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of United Nations
16 January 2017: Martin Schulz, former President of the European Parliament
19 July 2017: Shah Karim Aga Khan IV
15 April 2018: Queen Letizia of Spain
5 July 2018: Sir Peter Cosgrove, former Governor-General of Australia
24 August 2023: Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine
See also
Honorific orders of Portugal
References
External links
List of the Grand Collar of Freedom
1976 establishments in Portugal
Orders of chivalry of Portugal
Orders of chivalry awarded to heads of state, consorts and sovereign family members