Orders, decorations, and medals of the Orthodox Church of Serbia
Orders, decorations, and medals of Serbian Orthodox Church () represents a system of decorations awarded by Holy Synod of Bishops of Serbian Orthodox Church as a general church or dioceses as their own decorations. In the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church (Article 55, item 10) from 1957 provides that church decorations and decorations are awarded by Serbian Patriarch, according to the decree prescribed by Holy Synod of Bishops. Proposals for the decoration of clergy are given by diocesan archbishops (archbishop, metropolitans, bishops), and the decision is made by Holy Synod  of Bishops. Also, it is envisaged that Archbishops may decorate persons themselves, with those decorations whose award is within their competence, ie with diocesan decorations Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Article 108, item 12). History of the decorations. Serbian Orthodox Church did not award special decorations before 1945. With the coming to power of the communism in Yugoslavia, that is, the fall of the monarchy and the introduction of complete separation of state and church, there was a need for the introduction of special church recognitions in the form of decorations. The first decoration Serbian Orthodox Church appeared 1946 , on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the rise of the Serbian church from the archbishopric to the patriarchate, or the enthronement of the first Serbian Patriarch Joanikije. The "Order of the Holy Patriarch Ioannicius" was awarded only to dioceses in North America. The Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije Radosavljević established the first modern church decoration in the country, and that was the Medal of Mother Jugović, which was awarded to mothers with several children. Since 1985 Holy Synod of Bishops Serbian Orthodox Church awards Order of Saint Sava, which was originally established as a state decoration, by  decree king Milan Obrenović from 23 January 1883 and was awarded until 1945 when he continued to award it to the elder royal family Karađorđević as a dynastic decoration, so that today there are two orders of St. Sava: church and royal. Former decorations. Order of Saint Simeon of Myrrh was once awarded by Bishop of Šumadija, but it has been translated into general church decorations. Until the separation of Diocese of Sabac and Valjevo, the Diocese of Sabac and Valjevo awarded the Order of St. Nicholas of Serbia. After the separation of the two dioceses, both continued to award  this order, with the same name but a different stylistic solution.