The Pakistan Civil Awards were established on March 19, 1957, following the proclamation of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

as an

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on March 23, 1956. The announcement of civil awards is generally made once a year on

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

, August 14, and their investiture takes place on the following

Pakistan Day The Resolution Day ( ur, , translit=Yawm-e-Qarārdād), also known as the Pakistan Day ( ur, , translit=Yawm-e-Pākistān) and Republic Day, is a national holiday in Pakistan primarily commemorating the adoption of the Lahore Resolution by the Mu ...

, March 23. According to Article 259 of the

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's Pakistani political parties, opposition ...

1973, along with the

Decorations Act, 1975 Decorations Act 1975 is a law enacted in April 1975 by the Parliament of Pakistan. It allows government, in particular president to confer, withdraw, postpone or announce civil and gallantry awards for Pakistani and foreign citizens. It also allow ...

, the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

are conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

and

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. In December, the

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

and their divisions are invited to recommend candidates to the Cabinet Division. Received nominations are considered by three awards committees after which final proposal is sent to the President for approval. After the President's approval, the announcements are made on Independence Day and investiture takes place on Pakistan Day.http://www.pakdocs.com/honours-and-awards-policy/, 'Pakistan Honours and Awards Policy' on pakdocs.com website, lished 11 August 2012, Retrieved 11 February 2017 The President of Pakistan can confer awards to

foreign national A foreign national is any person (including an organization) who is not a national of a specific country. ("The term 'person' means an individual or an organization.") For example, in the United States and in its territories, a foreign national ...

s any time during the year. For such awards, proposals are made by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, and approved by the President prior to conferral. The Civil Awards comprise five

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, each with four descending classes: ''Nishan'' (Order (Grand Cross); ur, نشان), ''Hilal'' (Crescent (Grand Officer); ur, ہلال), ''Sitara'' (Star (Commander); ur, ستارہ) and ''Tamgha'' (Medal; ur, تمغہ). * Only awarded to foreign nationals.
Number in parentheses indicates

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

Recipients of the Sitara-e-Pakistan

Sitara-e-Pakistan (''Star of Pakistan''), stands third in hierarchy of civilian awards after the Nishan-e-Pakistan and the Hilal-e-Pakistan.

Recipients of the Tamgha-e-Pakistan

Tamgha-e-Pakistan (''Medal of Pakistan''), stands fourth in hierarchy of civilian awards after the Nishan-e-Pakistan, Hilal-e-Pakistan, Sitara-e-Pakistan.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211253/http://www.shaheedfoundation.org/nishanehaider.asp, Profiles of some 'Shaheeds' (martyrs) who were awarded Nishan-e-Haider Awards, Retrieved 12 February 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Civil Decorations Of Pakistan Civil awards and decorations of Pakistan Pakistan and the Commonwealth of Nations