Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
File:Med-grcr-placca.jpg Breast star of a Knight Grand Cross of the Republic
Type	Order of knighthood
Eligibility	Civilian and military divisions
Status	Extant
Established	3 March 1951 (3 March 1951)
Website	https://www.quirinale.it/page/omri
Precedence
Next (lower)	Military Order of Italy

The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italian: Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana) was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951.

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 biannually 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 2019):

File:Med-nastro.jpg

Insignia of a Knight of the Italian Republic, since 2001

Ribbon (1951–2001)	Ribbon (since 2001)	Class (English)	Full title in Italian	Awards
		Knight Grand Cross with Collar	Cavaliere di Gran Croce Decorato di Gran Cordone Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	199
		1st Class / Knight Grand Cross	Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	9,152
		2nd Class / Grand Officer	Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	24,170
		3rd Class / Commander	Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	45,843
		4th Class / Officer	Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	29,765
		5th Class / Knight	Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana	127,654

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.

Recipients

Grand Cross with Collar

• Presidency of President Luigi Einaudi (12 May 1948–11 May 1955):
  • 28/12/1952 – Greece – King Paul I (1947–1964)
  • 11/03/1953 – Brazil – President Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945; 1951–1954)
  • 30/05/1953 – Monaco – Prince Rainier III (1949–2005)
  • 16/07/1953 – Lebanon – President Camille Chamoun (1952–1958)
  • 06/10/1953 – Venezuela – President Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1953–1958)
  • 16/11/1953 – Argentina – President Juan Domingo Perón (1946–1955; 1973–1974)
  • 31/12/1953 – Germany – President Theodor Heuss (1949–1959)
  • 13/02/1954 – Haiti – President Paul Magloire (1950–1956)
  • 31/07/1954 – Dominican Republic – President Rafael Trujillo (1930–1938; 1942–1952)
  • 06/09/1954 – Chile – President Carlos Ibanez del Campo (1927–1931; 1952–1958)
  • 17/11/1954 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Liutenant Grand Master Fra' Antonio Hercolani Fava Simonetti (1951–1955)
  • 06/12/1954 – France – President René Coty (1954–1959)
  • 12/02/1955 – El Salvador – President Oscar Osorio (1950–1956)

• Presidency of Giovanni Gronchi (11 May 1955–11 May 1962):
  • 11/05/1955 – Italy – Former President Luigi Einaudi (1948–1955)
  • 21/10/1955 – Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie (1930–1974)
  • 16/01/1956 – Brazil – President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956–1961)
  • 05/06/1956 – Italy – Former President Enrico De Nicola (1946–1948)
  • 20/09/1956 – Liberia – President William Tubman (1944–1971)
  • 15/11/1956 – Peru – President Manuel Prado Ugarteche (1939–1945; 1956–1962)
  • 18/01/1957 – Costa Rica – President José Figueres Ferrer (1948–1949; 1953–1958; 1970–1974)
  • 06/03/1957 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Liutenant Grand Master Fra' Ernesto Paternò Castello di Carcaci (1955–1962)
  • 11/03/1957 – Ireland — President Seán T. O'Kelly (1945–1959)
  • 13/05/1957 – Turkey – President Celal Bayar (1950–1960)
  • 11/06/1957 – Panama – President Ernesto de la Guardia (1956–1960)
  • 26/08/1957 – Iran – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979)
  • 01/10/1957 – El Salvador – President José María Lemus (1956–1960)
  • 09/05/1958 – United Kingdom – Queen Elizabeth II (1952–incumbent)
  • 16/06/1959 – France – President Charles De Gaulle (1959–1969)
  • 11/06/1960 – Argentina – President Arturo Frondizi (1958–1962)
  • 08/09/1960 – Finland – President Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (1956–1982)
  • 22/09/1960 – Thailand – King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1946–2016)
  • 29/11/1960 – Uruguay – President Benito Nardone (1960–1961)
  • 06/04/1961 – Uruguay – President Eduardo Víctor Haedo (1961–1962)

• Presidency of Antonio Segni (11 May 1962–6 December 1964):
  • 25/05/1962 – Tunisia – President Habib Bourguiba (1957–1987)
  • 02/10/1962 – Senegal – President Léopold Sédar Senghor (1960–1980)
  • 08/10/1962 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Angelo de Mojana di Cologna (1962–1988)
  • 27/11/1962 – Greece – Prince Constantine
  • 25/09/1963 – Ghana – President Kwame Nkrumah (1960–1966)
  • 02/10/1963 – Somalia – President Aden Adde (1960–1967)
  • 20/04/1964 – Denmark – King Frederick IX (1947–1972)
  • 18/06/1964 – Uruguay – President Luis Giannattasio (1964–1965)

• Presidency of Giuseppe Saragat (29 December 1964–29 December 1971):
  • 16/06/1965 – Peru – President Fernando Belaúnde Terry (1963–1968; 1980–1985)
  • 20/06/1965 – Mexico – President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964–1970)
  • 21/06/1965 – Norway – King Olav V (1957–1991)
  • 02/07/1965 – Chile – President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970)
  • 08/08/1965 – Germany – President Heinrich Lübke (1959–1969)
  • 08/09/1965 – Venezuela – President Raúl Leoni (1964–1969)
  • 08/09/1965 – Argentina – President Arturo Umberto Illia (1963–1966)
  • 08/09/1965 – Brazil – President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (1964–1967)
  • 21/10/1965 – Poland – Chairman of the Council of State Edward Ochab (1964–1968)
  • 11/06/1966 – Belgium – King Baudouin (1951–1993)
  • 14/06/1966 – Sweden – King Gustaf VI Adolf (1950–1973)
  • 28/11/1966 – El Salvador – President Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo (1962–1967)
  • 08/08/1969 – Ivory Coast – President Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1960–1993)
  • 02/10/1969 – Yugoslavia – President Josip Broz Tito (1953–1980)

• Presidency of Giovanni Leone (29 December 1971–15 June 1978):
  • 30/12/1971 – Austria – President Franz Jonas (1965–1974)
  • 23/11/1972 – Indonesia – President Suharto (1968–1998)
  • 21/03/1973 – Germany – President Gustav Heinemann (1969–1974)
  • 08/05/1973 – Zaire – President Mobutu Sese Seko (1965–1997)
  • 21/05/1973 – Romania – President of the State Council Nicolae Ceausescu (1967–1989)
  • 08/06/1973 – Saudi Arabia – King Faisal (1964–1975)
  • 01/10/1973 – France – President Georges Pompidou (1969–1974)
  • 23/10/1973 – Netherlands – Queen Juliana (1948–1980)
  • 23/10/1973 – Netherlands – Prince Bernhard (1948–1980)
  • 26/10/1973 – Luxembourg – Grand Duke Jean (1964–2000)
  • 21/11/1973 – Gabon – President Omar Bongo (1967–2009)
  • 08/02/1974 – Mexico – President Luis Echeverría (1970–1976)
  • 22/04/1974 – Oman – Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said (1970–2020)
  • 15/12/1974 – Iran – Prince Reza Pahlavi
  • 15/12/1974 – Iran – Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi (1961–1979)
  • 06/04/1976 – Egypt – President Anwar Sadat (1970–1981)
  • 17/11/1976 – Venezuela – President Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974–1979; 1989–1993)
  • 08/11/1977 – Denmark – Queen Margrethe II (1972–incumbent)
  • 29/04/1978 – Turkey – President Fahri Koruturk (1973–1980)

• Presidency of Sandro Pertini (9 July 1978–29 June 1985):
  • 18/09/1979 – Germany – President Karl Carstens (1979–1984)
  • 14/05/1980 – Portugal – President António Ramalho Eanes (1976–1986)
  • 26/05/1980 – Spain – King Juan Carlos (1975–2014)
  • 18/11/1980 – Greece – President Konstantinos Karamanlis (1980–1985; 1990–1995)
  • 17/12/1980 – Yugoslavia – President Cvijetin Mijatović (1980–1981)
  • 30/03/1981 – Mexico – President José López Portillo (1976–1982)
  • 30/03/1981 – Costa Rica – President Rodrigo Carazo Odio (1978–1982)
  • 01/04/1981 – Colombia – President Julio César Turbay Ayala (1978–1982)
  • 14/10/1981 – Mozambique – President Samora Machel (1975–1986)
  • 30/01/1982 – Egypt – President Hosni Moubarak (1981–2011)
  • 09/03/1982 – Japan – Emperor Hirohito (1926–1989)
  • 05/07/1982 – France – President François Mitterrand (1981–1995)
  • 26/11/1983 – Jordan – King Hussein (1952–1999)
  • 20/06/1984 – Costa Rica – President Luis Alberto Monge (1982–1986)
  • 11/03/1985 – Argentina – President Raúl Alfonsín (1983–1989)
  • 27/03/1985 – Netherlands – Queen Beatrix (1980–2013)
  • 27/03/1985 – Netherlands – Prince Claus (1980–2002)

• Presidency of Francesco Cossiga (3 July 1985–28 April 1992):
  • 24/04/1986 – Germany – President Richard von Weizsäcker (1984–1994)
  • 25/07/1986 – Ireland – President Patrick John Hillery (1976–1990)
  • 05/10/1987 – Iceland – President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (1980–1996)
  • 06/06/1988 – Venezuela – President Jaime Lusinchi (1984–1989)
  • 16/06/1988 – Philippines – President Corazon Aquino (1986–1992)
  • 05/04/1989 – Portugal – President Mario Soares (1986–1996)
  • 12/05/1989 – Poland – President Wojciech Jaruzelski (1989–1990)
  • 22/05/1990 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Andrew Bertie (1988–1998)
  • 11/06/1990 – San Marino – Captain Regent Ottaviano Rossi (1990)
  • 11/06/1990 – San Marino – Captain Regent Aldemiro Bartolini (1990)
  • 08/04/1991 – Sweden – King Carl XVI Gustav (1973–incumbent)
  • 17/04/1991 – Chile – President Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994)
  • 15/07/1991 – Hungary – President Árpád Göncz (1990–2000)
  • 18/09/1991 – Malta – President Censu Tabone (1989–1994)
  • 19/12/1991 – Russia – President Boris Yeltsin (1991–1999)
  • 28/04/1992 – Italy – President Francesco Cossiga (1985–1992) self-awarded

• Presidency of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (25 May 1992–15 May 1999):
  • 05/10/1992 – Argentina – President Carlos Menem (1989–1999)
  • 27/01/1993 – Austria – President Thomas Klestil (1992–2004)
  • 14/09/1993 – Finland – President Mauno Koivisto (1982–1994)
  • 03/05/1995 – Ukraine – President Leonid Kuchma (1994–2005)
  • 24/06/1995 – Brazil – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002)
  • 29/06/1995 – Venezuela – President Rafael Caldera (1994–1999)
  • 19/07/1995 – Chile – President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994–2000)
  • 21/07/1995 – Uruguay – President Julio María Sanguinetti (1995–2000)
  • 16/11/1995 – Malta – President Ugo Mifsud Bonnici (1994–1999)
  • 26/03/1996 – Mexico – President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000)
  • 23/04/1996 – Albania – President Sali Berisha (1992–1997)
  • 28/05/1996 – Poland – President Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1995–2005)
  • 07/10/1996 – Turkey – President Süleyman Demirel (1993–2000)
  • 28/01/1997 – Finland – President Martti Ahtisaari (1994–2000)
  • 20/04/1997 – Germany – President Roman Herzog (1994–1999)
  • 02/05/1997 – Uzbekistan – President Islam Karimov (1991–2016)
  • 04/05/1997 – Kazakhstan – President Nursultan Nazarbayev (1990–2019)
  • 20/05/1997 – Lithuania – President Algirdas Brazauskas (1992–1998)
  • 21/05/1997 – Latvia – President Guntis Ulmanis (1993–1999)
  • 22/05/1997 – Estonia – President Lennart Meri (1992–2001)
  • 19/07/1997 – Saudi Arabia – King Fahd (1982–2005)
  • 05/11/1997 – Lebanon – President Elias Hrawi (1989–1998)
  • 13/11/1997 – Slovakia – President Michal Kovac (1993–1998)
  • 03/03/1998 – San Marino – Captain Regent Marino Zanotti (1998)
  • 03/03/1998 – San Marino – Captain Regent Luigi Mazza (1998)
  • 12/04/1998 - Japan - Emperor Akihito (1989-2019)
  • 12/05/1998 – Belgium – King Albert II (1993–2013)
  • 19/01/1999 – Dominican Republic – President Leonel Fernández (1996–2000; 2008–2012)
  • 19/02/1999 – Palestine – President Yasser Arafat (1994–2004)
  • 23/02/1999 – Lithuania – President Valdas Adamkus (1998–2003; 2004–2009)

• Presidency of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (18 May 1999–15 May 2006):
  • 21/10/1999 – France – President Jacques Chirac (1995–2007)
  • 15/11/1999 – Algeria – President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1999–2019)
  • 02/03/2000 – South Korea – President Kim Dae-Jung (1998–2003)
  • 03/03/2000 – Chile – President Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006)
  • 11/04/2000 – Morocco – King Mohammed IV (1999–incumbent)
  • 26/04/2000 – Qatar – Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (1995–2013)
  • 23/01/2001 – Greece – President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (1995–2005)
  • 09/02/2001 – Jordan – King Abdullah II (1999–incumbent)
  • 07/03/2001 – Argentina – President Fernando de la Rúa (1999–2001)
  • 07/03/2001 – Uruguay – President Jorge Batlle (2000–2005)
  • 19/10/2001 – Norway – King Harald V (1991–incumbent)
  • 27/11/2001 – Portugal – President Jorge Sampaio (1996–2006)
  • 14/01/2002 – Serbia and Montenegro – President Vojislav Koštunica (2000–2003)
  • 06/03/2002 – South Africa – President Thabo Mbeki (1999–2008)
  • 11/03/2002 – San Marino – Captain Regent Gino Giovagnoli (2002)
  • 11/03/2002 – San Marino – Captain Regent Alberto Cecchetti (2002)
  • 22/03/2002 – Germany – President Johannes Rau (1999–2004)
  • 27/03/2002 – Czech Republic – President Vaclav Havel (1993–2003)
  • 17/06/2002 – Hungary – President Ferenc Mádl (2000–2005)
  • 28/06/2002 – Slovakia – President Rudolf Schuster (1999–2004)
  • 04/12/2002 – Peru – President Alejandro Toledo (2001–2006)
  • 14/03/2003 – Luxembourg – Grand Duke Henri (2000–incumbent)
  • 09/06/2003 – Malaysia – King Sirajuddin of Perlis (2001–2006)
  • 16/01/2004 – Malta – President Guido de Marco. (1999–2004)
  • 08/04/2004 – Latvia – President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (1999–2007)
  • 08/04/2004 – Estonia – President Arnold Ruutel (2001–2006)
  • 05/04/2005 – Bulgaria – President Georgi Parvanov (2002–2012)
  • 11/05/2005 – Malta – President Edward Fenech Adami (2004–2009)
  • 11/11/2005 – Monaco – Prince Albert II (2005–incumbent)
  • 18/01/2006 – Greece – President Karolos Papoulias (2005–2015)
  • 15/03/2006 – Germany – President Horst Kohler (2004–2010)

• Presidency of President Giorgio Napolitano (15 May 2006–14 January 2015):
  • 11/10/2006 – Ghana – President John Agyekum Kufour (2001–2009)
  • 20/02/2007 – Slovakia – President Ivan Gašparovič (2004–2014)
  • 08/06/2007 – Austria – President Heinz Fischer (2004–2016)
  • 09/10/2007 – Chile – President Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010; 2014–2018)
  • 30/10/2007 – Saudi Arabia – King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud (2005–2015)
  • 01/09/2008 – Finland – President Tarja Halonen (2000–2012)
  • 14/10/2008 – Lebanon – President Michel Suleiman (2008–2014)
  • 27/10/2008 – Sovereign Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing (2008–2017)
  • 02/09/2009 – South Korea – President Lee Myung-bak (2008–2013)
  • 30/10/2009 – Turkey – President Abdullah Gül (2007–2014)
  • 11/03/2010 – Syria – President Bashar Al-Assad (2000–incumbent) Revoked by the President of the Republic on 28 September 2012 for "indignity"
  • 26/04/2010 – Kuwait – Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2006–incumbent)
  • 25/06/2010 – Malta – President George Abela (2009–2014)
  • 11/01/2011 – Slovenia – President Danilo Türk (2007–2012)
  • 06/07/2011 – Croatia – President Ivo Josipović (2010–2015)
  • 07/09/2011 – Romania – President Traian Băsescu (2004–2014)
  • 10/06/2012 – Poland – President Bronisław Komorowski (2010–2015)
  • 15/11/2012 – France – President François Hollande (2012–2017)
  • 20/02/2013 – Germany – President Joachim Gauck (2012–2017)
  • 04/03/2014 – Albania – President Bujar Nishani (2012–2017)
  • 05/05/2014 – Slovenia – President Borut Pahor (2012–incumbent)
  • 04/06/2014 – San Marino – Captain Regent Luca Beccari (2014)
  • 04/06/2014 – San Marino – Captain Regent Valeria Ciavatta (2014)

• Presidency of President Sergio Mattarella (3 February 2015–incumbent):
  • 23/11/2015 – Greece - President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015–2020)
  • 11/03/2016 – Cameroon – President Paul Biya (1982–incumbent)
  • 30/05/2016 – Romania – President Klaus Iohannis (2014–incumbent)
  • 21/06/2016 – Mexico – President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018)
  • 04/08/2016 – Bulgaria – President Rosen Plevneliev (2012–2017)
  • 23/01/2017 – Tunisia – President Beji Caid Essebsi (2014–2019)
  • 02/05/2017 – Argentina – President Mauricio Macri (2015–2019)
  • 19/06/2017 – Netherlands – King Willem-Alexander (2013–incumbent)
  • 07/09/2017 – Malta – President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (2014–2019)
  • 18/09/2017 – Finland – President Sauli Niinistö (2012–incumbent)
  • 29/11/2017 – Portugal – President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2016–incumbent)
  • 05/06/2018 – Estonia – President Kersti Kaljulaid (2016–incumbent)
  • 22/06/2018 – Lithuania – President Dalia Grybauskaitė (2009–2019)
  • 26/06/2018 – Latvia – President Raimonds Vējonis (2015–2019)
  • 12/07/2018 – Azerbaijan – President Ilham Aliyev (2003–incumbent)
  • 25/07/2018 – Armenia – President Armen Sarkissian (2018–incumbent)
  • 27/06/2019 – Austria – President Alexander Van der Bellen (2017–incumbent)
  • 19/09/2019 – Germany – President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2017–incumbent)

See also

• List of Italian orders of knighthood
• Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
• Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus

External links

• Presidenza della Repubblica - Le Onorificenze (in Italian)
• Ordini dinastici della Real Casa di Savoia (in Italian)