    an order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house, sovereign or organization to an individual. the distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most historic orders imply a membership in a group. in the case of most european orders, membership was also limited in number. decorations have no such limitations, and are awarded purely to recognize the merit or accomplishments of the recipient. both orders and decorations often come in multiple classes.definition adapted from www.turkishmedals.net, accessed 2010-02-20. ==development== modern orders of merit and decorations can trace their origin back to the monarchical and honorific orders of chivalry as established in the middle ages. while these were "societies, fellowships and colleges of knights", created by european monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the crusades, granting membership in such societies gradually developed into an honour that could be bestowed in recognition of service or to ensure the loyalty of a certain clientele. some of modern europe's highest honours, such as the order of the golden fleece, england's order of the garter, denmark's order of the elephant and scotland's order of the thistle, were created during that era. they were essentially courtly in nature, characterised by close personal relations between the orders' members and the orders' sovereign. by the time of the renaissance, most european monarchs had either acquired an existing order of chivalry, or created new ones of their own, to reward loyal civilian and especially military officials. such orders remained out of reach to the general public, however, as being of noble rank or birth was usually a prerequisite to being admitted. in the 18th century, these ideas gradually changed and the orders developed from "honourable societies" to "visible h
Orders,_decorations,_and_medals Orders_of_knighthood Ribbon_symbolism