The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of
Arts and Letters) is an
order
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 ...
of France established on 2 May 1957 by the
Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by
President Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.
Its origin is attributed to the
Order of Saint Michael (established 1 August 1469), as acknowledged by French government sources.
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Background
To be considered for the award, French government guidelines stipulate that citizens of France must be at least thirty years old, respect French civil law, and must have "significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance".
Membership is not, however, limited to French nationals; recipients include numerous foreign luminaries. Foreign recipients are admitted into the Order "without condition of age".
The Order has three grades:
* (Commander) — medallion worn on a necklet; up to 20 recipients a year
* (Officer) — medallion worn on a ribbon with rosette on left breast; up to 60 recipients a year
* (Knight) — medallion worn on a ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mater ...
on left breast; up to 200 recipients a year
The (medallion) of the Order is an eight-pointed, green-enameled asterisk
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
, in gilt for Commanders and Officers and in silver for Knights; the obverse central disc has the letters "A" and "L" on a white-enameled background, surrounded by a golden ring emblazoned with the phrase . The reverse central disc features the head of Marianne on a golden background, surrounded by a golden ring bearing the words . The Commander's badge is topped by a gilt twisted ring.
The ribbon of the Order is green with four white stripes.
Members of the Order
According to the statutes of the Order, French citizens must wait a minimum of 5 years before they are eligible to be upgraded from to , or to , and must have displayed additional meritorious deeds than just those that originally made them a . However, in the statutes, there is a clause saying "". (Translation: "The officers and commanders of the Legion of Honour can be promoted directly to an equivalent grade in the Order of Arts and Letters".) This means that if someone were to be made of the Legion of Honour, then the next year, that person could be directly made of the Order of Arts and Letters and bypass a nomination as a knight and the five-year rule.
See also
* Ribbons of the French military and civil awards This is a list of the ribbons of the French military and civil awards.
French national orders
French ministerial orders
French military decorations
Medals of Honor
French commemorative awards
Other awards
Order of precedence
Official ...
* , a Quebec order based in part on the
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres
Awards established in 1957
1957 establishments in France
Civil awards and decorations of France
Orders of merit