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Order of Merit of the Italian Republic facts for kids

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Order of Merit of the
Italian Republic
Stemma OMRI.png
Emblem of the order
Awarded by the Italian Republic
Type Order of merit
Established 3 March 1951; 73 years ago (1951-03-03)
Country Italy
Eligibility Civilian and military divisions
Criteria Meritorious service or achievement
Status Currently constituted
Founder Luigi Einaudi
Grand Master President of the Republic
Grades
  • Knight Grand Cross with Collar
  • Knight Grand Cross
  • Grand Officer
  • Commander
  • Officer
  • Knight
Post-nominals OMRI
Precedence
Next (higher) None
Next (lower) Military Order of Italy
Cavaliere OMRI BAR.svg
Ribbon of the order
Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana
Commander's badge with a ribbon bow

The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italian: Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.

The highest-ranking honour of the Republic, it is awarded for "merit acquired by the nation" in the fields of literature, the arts, economy, public service, and social, philanthropic and humanitarian activities and for long and conspicuous service in civilian and military careers. The post-nominal letters for the order are OMRI.

The order effectively replaced national orders such as the Civil Order of Savoy (1831), the Order of the Crown of Italy (1868), the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1572) and the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (1362).

Grades

Investiture takes place twice a year – on 2 June, the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic, and on 27 December, the anniversary of the promulgation of the Italian Constitution. However, those awards on Presidential motu proprio, related to termination of service or granted to foreigners, may be made at any time.

The badge, modified in 2001, bears the inscription Al Merito della Repubblica encircling the national coat of arms on the obverse and the Latin Patriæ Unitati (for the union of the country) and Civium Libertati (for the liberty of the citizens) encircling the head of Italia turrita on the reverse. The six degrees with corresponding ribbons are as follows (with numbers to 2 June 2020):

Ribbon
(1951–2001)
Ribbon
(since 2001)
Class (English) Full title in Italian Awards
Cordone di gran Croce di Gran Cordone OMRI BAR.svg ITA OMRI 2001 GC-GCord BAR.svg Knight Grand Cross with Collar Cavaliere di Gran Croce Decorato di Gran Cordone Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 201
Cordone di gran Croce OMRI BAR.svg ITA OMRI 2001 GC BAR.svg 1st Class / Knight Grand Cross Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 9,178
Grande ufficiale OMRI BAR.svg ITA OMRI 2001 GUff BAR.svg 2nd Class / Grand Officer Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 24,830
Commendatore OMRI BAR.svg ITA OMRI 2001 Com BAR.svg 3rd Class / Commander Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 48,184
Ufficiale OMRI BAR.svg ITA OMRI 2001 Uff BAR.svg 4th Class / Officer Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 33,442
Cavaliere OMRI BAR.svg ITA OMRI 2001 Cav BAR.svg 5th Class / Knight Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana 146,390

The order is bestowed by decree of the President of the Italian Republic, as head of the orders of knighthood, on the recommendation of the President of the Council of Ministers. Except in exceptional circumstances, no one can be awarded for the first time a rank higher than Knight. The minimum age requirement is normally 35.

The Knight Grand Cross with Collar is awarded only to heads of state.

Recipients

Grand Cross with Collar

Date Recipient
28 December 1952  Greece – King Paul I (1947–1964)
11 March 1953  Brazil – President Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945; 1951–1954)
30 May 1953  Monaco – Prince Rainier III (1949–2005)
16 July 1953  Lebanon – President Camille Chamoun (1952–1958)
6 October 1953 Venezuela – President Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1953–1958)
16 November 1953  Argentina – President Juan Domingo Perón (1946–1955; 1973–1974)
31 December 1953  Germany – President Theodor Heuss (1949–1959)
13 February 1954  Haiti – President Paul Magloire (1950–1956)
31 July 1954  Dominican Republic – President Rafael Trujillo (1930–1938; 1942–1952)
6 September 1954  Chile – President Carlos Ibanez del Campo (1927–1931; 1952–1958)
17 November 1954 Sovereign Order of Malta – Lieutenant Grand Master Fra' Antonio Hercolani Fava Simonetti (1951–1955)
6 December 1954  France – President René Coty (1954–1959)
12 February 1955  El Salvador – President Óscar Osorio (1950–1956)
Date Recipient
11 May 1955  Italy – Former President Luigi Einaudi (1948–1955)
21 October 1955  Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie (1930–1974)
16 January 1956  Brazil – President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956–1961)
5 June 1956  Italy – Former President Enrico De Nicola (1946–1948)
20 September 1956  Liberia – President William Tubman (1944–1971)
15 November 1956  Peru – President Manuel Prado Ugarteche (1939–1945; 1956–1962)
18 January 1957  Costa Rica – President José Figueres Ferrer (1948–1949; 1953–1958; 1970–1974)
6 March 1957 Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of Malta – Lieutenant Grand Master Fra' Ernesto Paternò Castello di Carcaci (1955–1962)
11 March 1957  Ireland — President Seán T. O'Kelly (1945–1959)
13 May 1957  Turkey – President Celal Bayar (1950–1960)
11 June 1957  Panama – President Ernesto de la Guardia (1956–1960)
26 August 1957  Iran – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979)
1 October 1957  El Salvador – President José María Lemus (1956–1960)
9 May 1958  United Kingdom – Queen Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
16 June 1959  France – President Charles De Gaulle (1959–1969)
11 June 1960  Argentina – President Arturo Frondizi (1958–1962)
8 September 1960  Finland – President Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (1956–1982)
22 September 1960  Thailand – King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1946–2016)
29 November 1960  Uruguay – President Benito Nardone (1960–1961)
6 April 1961  Uruguay – President Eduardo Víctor Haedo (1961–1962)
Date Recipient
25 May 1962  Tunisia – President Habib Bourguiba (1957–1987)
2 October 1962  Senegal – President Léopold Sédar Senghor (1960–1980)
8 October 1962 Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Angelo de Mojana di Cologna (1962–1988)
27 November 1962  Greece – Prince Constantine
25 September 1963  Ghana – President Kwame Nkrumah (1960–1966)
2 October 1963  Somalia – President Aden Adde (1960–1967)
20 April 1964  Denmark – King Frederik IX (1947–1972)
18 June 1964  Uruguay – President Luis Giannattasio (1964–1965)
Date Recipient
16 June 1965  Peru – President Fernando Belaúnde Terry (1963–1968; 1980–1985)
20 June 1965 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico – President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964–1970)
21 June 1965  Norway – King Olav V (1957–1991)
2 July 1965  Chile – President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970)
8 August 1965  Germany – President Heinrich Lübke (1959–1969)
8 September 1965 Venezuela – President Raúl Leoni (1964–1969)
 Argentina – President Arturo Umberto Illia (1963–1966)
 Brazil – President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (1964–1967)
21 October 1965  Poland – Chairman of the Council of State Edward Ochab (1964–1968)
11 June 1966  Belgium – King Baudouin (1951–1993)
14 June 1966  Sweden – King Gustaf VI Adolf (1950–1973)
28 November 1966  El Salvador – President Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo (1962–1967)
8 August 1969  Côte d'Ivoire – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1960–1993)
2 October 1969  Yugoslavia – President Josip Broz Tito (1953–1980)
Date Recipient
30 December 1971  Austria – President Franz Jonas (1965–1974)
23 November 1972  Indonesia – President Suharto (1968–1998)
21 March 1973  Germany – President Gustav Heinemann (1969–1974)
8 May 1973 Script error: The function "" does not exist. – President Mobutu Sese Seko (1965–1997)
21 May 1973  Romania – President of the State Council Nicolae Ceaușescu (1967–1989)
8 June 1973  Saudi Arabia – King Faisal (1964–1975)
1 October 1973  France – President Georges Pompidou (1969–1974)
23 October 1973  Netherlands – Queen Juliana (1948–1980)
 Netherlands – Prince Bernhard (1948–1980)
26 October 1973  Luxembourg – Grand Duke Jean (1964–2000)
21 November 1973  Gabon – President Omar Bongo (1967–2009)
8 February 1974 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico – President Luis Echeverría (1970–1976)
22 April 1974  Oman – Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said (1970–2020)
15 December 1974  Iran – Prince Reza Pahlavi
 Iran – Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi (1961–1979)
6 April 1976 – President Anwar Sadat (1970–1981)
17 November 1976 – President Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974–1979; 1989–1993)
8 November 1977  Denmark – Queen Margrethe II (1972–2024)
29 April 1978  Turkey – President Fahri Koruturk (1973–1980)
Date Recipient
18 September 1979  Germany – President Karl Carstens (1979–1984)
14 May 1980  Portugal – President António Ramalho Eanes (1976–1986)
26 May 1980 Spain – King Juan Carlos I (1975–2014)
18 November 1980  Greece – President Konstantinos Karamanlis (1980–1985; 1990–1995)
17 December 1980  Yugoslavia – President Cvijetin Mijatović (1980–1981)
30 March 1981 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico – President José López Portillo (1976–1982)
 Costa Rica – President Rodrigo Carazo Odio (1978–1982)
1 April 1981  Colombia – President Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978–1982)
14 October 1981  Mozambique – President Samora Machel (1975–1986)
30 January 1982 Egypt – President Hosni Moubarak (1981–2011)
9 March 1982  Japan – Emperor Hirohito (1926–1989)
5 July 1982  France – President François Mitterrand (1981–1995)
26 November 1983  Jordan – King Hussein (1952–1999)
20 June 1984  Costa Rica – President Luis Alberto Monge (1982–1986)
11 March 1985  Argentina – President Raúl Alfonsín (1983–1989)
27 March 1985  Netherlands – Queen Beatrix (1980–2013)
 Netherlands – Prince Claus (1980–2002)
Date Recipient
24 April 1986  Germany – President Richard von Weizsäcker (1984–1994)
25 July 1986  Ireland – President Patrick John Hillery (1976–1990)
5 October 1987  Iceland – President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1980–1996)
6 June 1988 Venezuela – President Jaime Lusinchi (1984–1989)
16 June 1988  Philippines – President Corazon Aquino (1986–1992)
5 April 1989  Portugal – President Mario Soares (1986–1996)
12 May 1989  Poland – President Wojciech Jaruzelski (1989–1990)
22 May 1990 Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Andrew Bertie (1988–2008)
11 June 1990  San Marino – Captain Regent Ottaviano Rossi (1990)
 San Marino – Captain Regent Aldemiro Bartolini (1990)
8 April 1991  Sweden – King Carl XVI Gustav (1973–incumbent)
17 April 1991  Chile – President Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994)
15 July 1991  Hungary – President Árpád Göncz (1990–2000)
18 September 1991  Malta – President Censu Tabone (1989–1994)
19 December 1991  Russia – President Boris Yeltsin (1991–1999)
28 April 1992  Italy – President Francesco Cossiga (1985–1992) self-awarded
Date Recipient
5 October 1992  Argentina – President Carlos Menem (1989–1999)
27 January 1993  Austria – President Thomas Klestil (1992–2004)
14 September 1993  Finland – President Mauno Koivisto (1982–1994)
3 May 1995  Ukraine – President Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005)
24 June 1995  Brazil – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002)
29 June 1995 Venezuela – President Rafael Caldera (1994–1999)
19 July 1995  Chile – President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994–2000)
21 July 1995  Uruguay – President Julio María Sanguinetti (1985–1990; 1995–2000)
16 November 1995  Malta – President Ugo Mifsud Bonnici (1994–1999)
26 March 1996 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico – President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000)
23 April 1996  Albania – President Sali Berisha (1992–1997)
28 May 1996  Poland – President Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1995–2005)
7 October 1996  Turkey – President Süleyman Demirel (1993–2000)
28 January 1997  Finland – President Martti Ahtisaari (1994–2000)
20 April 1997  Germany – President Roman Herzog (1994–1999)
2 May 1997  Uzbekistan – President Islam Karimov (1991–2016)
4 May 1997  Kazakhstan – President Nursultan Nazarbayev (1990–2019)
20 May 1997  Lithuania – President Algirdas Brazauskas (1992–1998)
21 May 1997  Latvia – President Guntis Ulmanis (1993–1999)
22 May 1997  Estonia – President Lennart Meri (1992–2001)
19 July 1997  Saudi Arabia – King Fahd (1982–2005)
5 November 1997  Lebanon – President Elias Hrawi (1989–1998)
13 November 1997  Slovakia – President Michal Kovac (1993–1998)
3 March 1998  San Marino – Captain Regent Marino Zanotti (1998)
 San Marino – Captain Regent Luigi Mazza (1998)
12 April 1998  Japan – Emperor Akihito (1989–2019)
12 May 1998  Belgium – King Albert II (1993–2013)
19 January 1999  Dominican Republic – President Leonel Fernández (1996–2000; 2008–2012)
19 February 1999  Palestine – President Yasser Arafat (1994–2004)
23 February 1999  Lithuania – President Valdas Adamkus (1998–2003; 2004–2009)
Date Recipient
21 October 1999  France – President Jacques Chirac (1995–2007)
15 November 1999  Algeria – President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1999–2019)
2 March 2000  South Korea – President Kim Dae-Jung (1998–2003)
3 March 2000  Chile – President Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006)
11 April 2000  Morocco – King Mohammed VI (1999–incumbent)
26 April 2000  Qatar – Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (1995–2013)
23 January 2001  Greece – President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (1995–2005)
9 February 2001  Jordan – King Abdullah II (1999–incumbent)
7 March 2001  Argentina – President Fernando de la Rúa (1999–2001)
 Uruguay – President Jorge Batlle (2000–2005)
19 October 2001  Norway – King Harald V (1991–incumbent)
27 November 2001  Portugal – President Jorge Sampaio (1996–2006)
14 January 2002  Serbia and Montenegro – President Vojislav Koštunica (2000–2003)
6 March 2002  South Africa – President Thabo Mbeki (1999–2008)
11 March 2002  San Marino – Captain Regent Gino Giovagnoli (2002)
 San Marino – Captain Regent Alberto Cecchetti (2002)
22 March 2002  Germany – President Johannes Rau (1999–2004)
27 March 2002  Czech Republic – President Vaclav Havel (1993–2003)
17 June 2002  Hungary – President Ferenc Mádl (2000–2005)
28 June 2002  Slovakia – President Rudolf Schuster (1999–2004)
4 December 2002  Peru – President Alejandro Toledo (2001–2006)
14 March 2003  Luxembourg – Grand Duke Henri (2000–incumbent)
9 June 2003  Malaysia – King Sirajuddin of Perlis (2001–2006)
16 January 2004  Malta – President Guido de Marco (1999–2004)
8 April 2004  Latvia – President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (1999–2007)
 Estonia – President Arnold Rüütel (2001–2006)
5 April 2005  Bulgaria – President Georgi Parvanov (2002–2012)
11 May 2005  Malta – President Edward Fenech Adami (2004–2009)
12 December 2005  MonacoAlbert II, Prince of Monaco (2005–incumbent)
18 January 2006  Greece – President Karolos Papoulias (2005–2015)
15 March 2006  Germany – President Horst Köhler (2004–2010)
Date Recipient
11 October 2006  Ghana – President John Agyekum Kufour (2001–2009)
20 February 2007  Slovakia – President Ivan Gašparovič (2004–2014)
8 June 2007  Austria – President Heinz Fischer (2004–2016)
9 October 2007  Chile – President Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010; 2014–2018)
30 October 2007  Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud (2005–2015)
1 September 2008  Finland – President Tarja Halonen (2000–2012)
14 October 2008  Lebanon – President Michel Suleiman (2008–2014)
27 October 2008 Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing (2008–2017)
2 September 2009  South Korea – President Lee Myung-bak (2008–2013)
30 October 2009  Turkey – President Abdullah Gül (2007–2014)
11 March 2010  SyriaPresident Bashar Al-Assad (2000–incumbent)
Revoked by the President of the Republic on 28 September 2012 for "indignity"
25 April 2010  Malta – President George Abela (2009–2014)
26 April 2010  Kuwait – Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2006–2020)
11 January 2011  Slovenia – President Danilo Türk (2007–2012)
6 July 2011  Croatia – President Ivo Josipović (2010–2015)
7 September 2011  Romania – President Traian Băsescu (2004–2014)
10 June 2012  Poland – President Bronisław Komorowski (2010–2015)
15 November 2012  France – President François Hollande (2012–2017)
20 February 2013  Germany – President Joachim Gauck (2012–2017)
4 March 2014  Albania – President Bujar Nishani (2012–2017)
5 May 2014  Slovenia – President Borut Pahor (2012–2022)
4 June 2014  San Marino – Captain Regent Luca Beccari (2014)
 San Marino – Captain Regent Valeria Ciavatta (2014)
Date Recipient
23 November 2015  Greece – President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015–2020)
11 March 2016  Cameroon – President Paul Biya (1982–incumbent)
30 May 2016  Romania – President Klaus Iohannis (2014–incumbent)
21 June 2016 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico – President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018)
4 August 2016  Bulgaria – President Rosen Plevneliev (2012–2017)
23 January 2017  Tunisia – President Beji Caid Essebsi (2014–2019)
2 May 2017  Argentina – President Mauricio Macri (2015–2019)
19 June 2017  Netherlands – King Willem-Alexander (2013–incumbent)
7 September 2017  Malta – President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (2014–2019)
18 September 2017  Finland – President Sauli Niinistö (2012–2024)
29 November 2017  Portugal – President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2016–incumbent)
5 June 2018  Estonia – President Kersti Kaljulaid (2016–2021)
22 June 2018  Lithuania – President Dalia Grybauskaitė (2009–2019)
26 June 2018  Latvia – President Raimonds Vējonis (2015–2019)
12 July 2018  Azerbaijan – President Ilham Aliyev (2003–incumbent)
25 July 2018  Armenia – President Armen Sarkissian (2018–2022)
27 June 2019  Austria – President Alexander Van der Bellen (2017–incumbent)
17 September 2019  Germany – President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2017–incumbent)
6 October 2020  Greece – President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (2020–incumbent)
16 June 2021  San Marino – Captain Regent Marco Nicolini (2021)
 San Marino – Captain Regent Gian Carlo Venturini (2021)
1 July 2021  France – President Emmanuel Macron (2017–incumbent)
25 October 2021  Spain – King Felipe VI (2014–incumbent)
 Belgium – King Philippe (2013–incumbent)
3 November 2021  Algeria – President Abdelmadjid Tebboune (2019–incumbent)
1 June 2022  Georgia – President Salome Zourabichvili (2018–incumbent)
12 January 2023  Paraguay – President Mario Abdo Benítez (2018–2023)
13 April 2023  Poland – President Andrzej Duda (2015–incumbent)
19 May 2023  Angola – President João Lourenço (2017–incumbent)
5 June 2023  Iraq – President Abdul Latif Rashid (2022–incumbent)
7 October 2023  South Korea – President Yoon Suk Yeol (2022–incumbent)
21 novembre 2023 Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master John Timothy Dunlap (2023-)
6 December 2023  San Marino – Captain Regent Filippo Tamagnini (2023-2024)
 San Marino – Captain Regent Gaetano Troina (2023-2024)
26 February 2024  Cyprus – President Nikos Christodoulides (2023–incumbent)
18 March 2024  Malta – President George William Vella (2019–2024)
17 April 2024  Bulgaria – President Rumen Radev (2017-)

Wearer's guide

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Orden al Mérito de la República Italiana para niños

  • Orders, decorations, and medals of Italy
  • Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
  • Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
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