Civil decorations of Pakistan

The Pakistan Civil Awards were established on March 19, 1957, following the proclamation of Pakistan as an independent Republic on March 23, 1956. The announcement of civil awards is generally made once a year on Independence Day, 14th of August, and their investiture takes place on the following Pakistan Day, 23rd of March.

Scope of the Awards

According to the Article 259(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, along with the Decorations Act 1975, the President of Pakistan confers civil awards on Pakistani citizens in recognition of gallantry, or Also, the awards for Pride of Performance is conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of Art, Literature, Science, Sports and Nursing.

'Pride of Performance' and the Orders of bravery and excellence are for the Pakistani citizens only, whereas the civil awards are open to all in any Order for eminence and outstanding services to Pakistan in a significant field of activity.

The Orders

The Civil Awards, as instituted in 1958, comprises five Orders.

1. Nishan-i-Pakistan (The Order of Pakistan)
2. Nishan-i-Shuja'at (The Order of Bravery)
3. Nishan-i-Imtiaz (The Order of Excellence)
4. Nishan-i-Quaid-i-Azam (The Order of the Great Leader)
5. Nishan-i-Khidmat (The Order of Service)

Each Order has four descending categories: Nishan (Order), Hilal (Crescent), Sitara (Star) and Tamgha (Medal), as follows:

1. Nishan-i-Pakistan
2. Nishan-i-Shuja’at
3. Nishan-i-Imtiaz
4. Nishan-i-Quaid-i-Azam
5. Nishan-i-Khidmat

1. Hilal-i-Pakistan
2. Hilal-i-Shuja’at
3. Hilal-i-Imtiaz
4. Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam
5. Hilal-i-Khidmat

1. Sitara-e-Pakistan
2. Sitara-i-Shuja'at
3. Sitara-i-Imtiaz
4. Presidential Award for Pride of Performance
5. Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam
6. Sitara-i-Khidmat

1. Tamgha-i-Pakistan
2. Tamgha-i-Shuja’at
3. Tamgha-i-Imtiaz
4. Tamgha-i-Quaid-i-Azam
5. Tamgha-i-Khidmat

Other civil awards

President's Award for Pride of Performance

Established on January 13, 1983 by president Zia-Ul-Haq, this award is in recognition of notable achievement in the fields of art, science, literature, sports or nursing. The award of the medal may be accompanied by a monetary award. The president of Pakistan reserves the right to confer the award, without a monetary addition, upon non-citizens of Pakistan.

Fakhar-e-Hazara

It is an association which encourages the best professionals in different fields of Hazara Division, including; Education, Sports, Literature, Politics.

Famous people who have received this award so far are as follows: -

• Azam Khan Swati - Senator
• Dr. Naveed Irfan - Ever Best Graduate MBBS / Peshawar University
• Yasir Hameed - National National Cricket Team Hero

Pakistan Talent Council

It is a private council which awards Pakistan's top ranking citizens in the fields of Education, Literature, culture, sports, journalism, social work.Its yearly ceremony takes place in different cities of Pakistan. The 15th National Talent Awards 2008 were distributed on 24th August 2008 in Abbottabad. A total number of 34 awards were distributed in different fields, out of which the following candidates got the top ranked awards Mr. Zaheer Abbas(Sports), Bashir Jhangiri (Education), Mr. Ghazi Daud Shah Shaheed(Culture), Mr. Umar Gul(Sports), Mr. Yasir Hameed(Sports),Mr. Ehsen Naveed Irfan (Social Work), Captain Amir Shaheed(Patriotism),Professor Habib Shah(Education), Mr. Younis Khan(Sports), Professor Haroon-ur-Rasheed (Education).