The Grand Order of the Orchid Blossom (Chinese: 大勲位蘭花章 ''Dàxūnwèi lánhuā zhāng'') was an award of the Empire of Manchuria. It was established by Imperial Decree No. 1 on March 1, 1934 and published by law of April 19, 1934. The order consisted of only two classes: Grand Collar and Grand Cordon. The order was the equivalent of the Japanese

Order of the Chrysanthemum is Japan's highest order. The Grand Cordon of the Order was established in 1876 by Emperor Meiji of Japan; the Collar of the Order was added on 4 January 1888. Unlike its European counterparts, the order may be conferred posthumously. Apart fr ...

Design

The design was chosen to be an orchid because it was reportedly

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

's favorite flower. The collar consists of one central large link and 20 small links, interconnected by figured intermediate links in the form of a Buddhist "endless knot". Small chain links are openwork slotted pentagons with rounded corners, symbolizing clouds. Eight of them are inscribed covered with green enamel "eight auspicious signs of Buddha": to the left of the central link - a lotus flower, a precious vessel, two fish and an endless knot; to the right of the central link - the shell, the wheel of learning, the precious umbrella and the banner of victory. The central link is an openwork slotted hexagon, symbolizing a cloud, into which a round medallion of blue enamel is inscribed. The medallion depicts a dragon "in the clouds" wriggling around the flaming Sun. The cordon is gold, with a diameter of 71 mm, it is a stylized image of the main imperial symbol - an orchid flower. On the obverse, the badge looks like a round jagged medallion of green enamel, on which a star of five narrow “petals” of yellow enamel is superimposed. A large pearl is fixed in the center of the star, between the "petals" there are golden stalks with fixed small pearls, five in each corner. On the reverse side of the badge there are four characters: "大勲位章" ("the highest award for merit"). Through a rectangular bracket on the upper "petal" the sign is attached to an intermediate link, which is a reduced copy of the sign itself, without enamels and pearls. At the upper end of the intermediate link there is a transverse eyelet for attaching to the order chain. The order was the highest award of the empire. The Order of the Orchid Blossom was divided into two classes: the collar (大勲位蘭花章頸飾) and the cordon (大勲位蘭花大綬章). The collar was intended for monarchs and heads of state on a large ribbon.

Recipients

It was awarded at least 2 times and was discontinued in 1945 after the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

of Manchuria. * Hirohito *

The order may have been awarded to other kings such as King

Michael I of Romania Michael I ( ro, Mihai I ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's ...

but there is not enough information to prove or disprove this claim.

References

Bibliography

*Ionina, N. ''Pu Yi and Manchukuo awards'', 100 great awards. Veche, 2006. , pp. 155–157. *Kua, Paul L. T. ''Manchukuo's Award System and Some of its Lesser Known Awards'', The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America, 1998. Vol. 49, no. 1. pp. 17–26. *Neubecker, Ottfried. ''On the orders of Manchukuo'', Uniforms Market. Issue 8, p. 5 *Peterson, James W. ''Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States'', Orders and Medals Society of America, 2000, 3. Edition, , p. 140. *Rozanov, O. N. ''Japan: History in awards''. Russian political encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2001. , pp. 103–110. *Rozanov, O. N. ''Reward systems in the politics and ideology of the countries of North-East Asia'', Monuments of historical thought, 2008. , pp. 131–137. *Usov, V. N. ''The last emperor of China: Pu Yi (1906-1967)'', Olma-Press, 2003. , pp. 177–178. {{Orders, decorations, and medals of Manchukuo Orders, decorations, and medals of Manchukuo Awards established in 1934