The Royal Order of King George Tupou I is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

History

The Order was established between 1876–1890 by King George Tupou I as a general reward for meritorious services to the kingdom.

Classes

The Order consists of three classes:John Duncan McMeekin's summary
/ref>"Gentleman's Military Interest Club" Foru
Tonga Orders
/ref> * Knight Grand Cross - Star & badge from a sash * Knight Commander - Star, badge from a necklet ribbon * Commander - Breast badge from a ribbon In 2008 King

George Tupou V George Tupou V ( Tongan: Siaosi Tupou, full name: Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; 4 May 194818 March 2012) was the King of Tonga from the death of his father Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV in 2006 until his own death six years later. ...

declared the classes of Knight Commander and Commander obsolete.

Insignia

Knight Grand Cross

The ''Star'' is a 90mm 8-pointed silver, silver-gilt & enamel faceted Star with four silver Tongan crowns on the main points, (in the North, South, East & West). The white enamel central medallion has the National Coat of Arms in the centre, the red riband has the gold capital letters KOE 'OTUA MO TOGA KO HOKU TOFi'A. (the wrongly spelt motto due to a manufacturing error – "God and Tonga Are My Inheritance"), there is a small 5-pointed gold star in the base of the riband (reversed, i.e. one point downwards). The ''ribbon'' is a 102mm red moiré sash is with two white stripes (18/22.5/21/22.5/18mm)

Knight Commander

The ''star'' (approx. 90mm) is a 7-pointed silver, silver-gilt & enamel faceted Star (with one point downwards), on top of the riband is a gilt crown. The central medallion & riband are as above. The ''necklet badge'' (approx 60mm without the crown) is a silver, silver-gilt & enamel 6-pointed faceted star with two points upwards, suspended by a silver-gilt Tongan crown. The central medallion & riband are as above. The ''necklet ribbon'' is approx. 41mm wide, red with three white stripes (2.5/6/9/6/9/6/2.5mm)

Companion

The ''breast badge'' is a similar faceted star as the Knight Commander (above) except that the white central medallion has the shield from the Coat of Arms in the centre. The ''breast ribbon'' is approx 38mm wide, red with two white stripes (6/8/10/8/6mm)

References

{{Tongan honours Orders, decorations, and medals of Tonga