Orders
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* H ...
,
decorations and
medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...
s of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
are regulated by the law on the Orders and Medals of the Republic of Bulgaria of 29 May 2003.
The
National Military History Museum of Bulgaria in
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
currently has over 150 Bulgarian Orders in the collection, which it has acquired over 85 years in co-operation with the Bulgarian State Mint, which are in the main part imperial, including Orders awarded to Knjaz Alexander,
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
and
Tsar Boris III along with other high-ranking military leaders of the Royal Bulgarian Army.
*Note: Awards shown without ribbons are/were worn in full at all times. Also, like most items which are created by the minting process, mint errors of awards do exist, some which were still issued despite the error (such as off-centred artwork) and some which were discarded (such as incorrect reverses). These mint errors add dimensions to the art of collecting such items. Main error types will also be listed here also. Numbers of Orders/Medals that were in use in both The Tsardom of Bulgaria and The People's Republic of Bulgaria show the number awarded during both regimes and not just under the single regime.
*
Principality of Bulgaria/Third Bulgarian Tsardom (29 April 1879 – 15 September 1946)
The decorations of the Principality of Bulgaria (29 April 1879 – 5 October 1908) and the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (5 October 1908 – 15 September 1946) were divided into orders, medals and honorary insignia. Orders were awarded to civilians and military personnel for particularly great merits in service of the state (For example, commanding an army to a victory). Honorary insignia (Badges) were awarded for a specific merit or achievement or due to a specific event (For example, being wounded in action) and medals were presented on the occasion of a political or historic event or for merit (For example, on the anniversary of independence). Most of the Imperial commemorative medals were only issued once, to participants at the commemorated event and only the highest level personnel could be expected to be at all these events during their term in high status society. No-one was issued every commemorative medal, as during the turbulence of coups, counter-coups and change of monarchs, the high level society was in near constant change.
The Principality of Bulgaria's first order was created with Article 59 of the
Tarnovo Constitution, The Order of Bravery, which came into force on 1 January 1880 (The order itself shows the date 1879 on the reverse). The highest Tsardom of Bulgaria award was the
Order of Saint Cyril And Saint Methodius awarded to those who brought outstanding excellence to the culture of the Tsardom of Bulgaria (The People's Republic of Bulgaria also created an Order of the same title in three classes but that was a far lower level award for merit in education and science and is not to be confused).
Orders
Medals
Table Medals
Unofficial Medals
These "medals" were "issued" or "awarded" by various groups and organisations including government departments but were/are not fully recognised as officially awarded medals and were/are not authorised for official wear on official uniforms. That being so this does not mean by any means that these medals were simply just for sale to all comers and were/are still often held in high respect by those who were given them.
People's Republic of Bulgaria (16 September 1946 – 10 November 1989)
*Note: Wider ribbons indicate 3 sided imperial type suspension/Narrower ribbons indicate 4/5 sided soviet type suspension.
With the exile of Tsar Simeon II all Imperial Bulgarian awards were discontinued and banned (Other than those created after the pro-soviet coup of 4 September 1944), including the wear of such awards. Traces of the Imperial award system were left in the following ways;
*Until 13 December 1950 various awards were issued with male and female type ribbons.
*Until 13 December 1950 male ribbons were still issued as a trifold, some medals such as the medal for "Participant in the Anti-Fascist Struggle" continued to have a trifold ribbon until the award was discontinued with the collapse of the People's Republic.
*Two new orders were created with the same name as imperial orders, The
Order "(Saint) Cyril And (Saint) Methodius" and the Order "For Bravery".
*The Order of Civil Merit ribbon was used for the new Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (which had similar award criteria).
Honorary Titles
Orders
Medals
Republic of Bulgaria (10 November 1989 – 29 May 2003)
With the collapse of The People's Republic of Bulgaria their award system was discontinued (Officially on 5 April 1991) with the exception of orders bestowed on foreign nationals. All communist and imperial awards were allowed to be worn. The soviet style 5 sided suspension was dropped, with the exception of the medal 50th Anniversary of Victory Over Hitler's Fascism, which had a 5 sided enamel suspension and the Imperial tradition of different ribbons for different sexes were reintroduced for certain awards. Between 5 April 1991 and the introduction of The Order For Loyal Service Under The Banner in 1994 there were no official state awards for Bulgarian citizens. As of 29 May 2003 a totally new award system was introduced and as of the 9 June 2003 the previous system was officially abolished.
Titles
Orders
Medals
Republic of Bulgaria (since 29 May 2003)
Legal organisation of the current Bulgarian Honours System is contained in the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
and the Decree on Intellectual Stimulation. Orders are established by the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
and are awarded by the
President of the Republic. The nomination of a foreign person is made by the Ministry of External Affairs, whereas Bulgarian nominees are selected by the
Council of Ministers
Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...
.
Titles
Orders
Medals
Table Medals
Badges
Recipients
;Grand Crosses
*
Souphanouvong
*
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
;Cordons
*
Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; November 3, 1926) is a Lithuanian politician, diplomat and civil engineer who served as the fifth and seventh president of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.
Adamku ...
*
Akihito
Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...
*
Albert II of Belgium
*
List of titles and honours of Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix of the Netherlands has held numerous titles and honours, both during, before, and after her reign, including a Style of the Dutch sovereign, number of historical titles.
Royal and noble titles and styles
* 31 January 1938 – 30 April 19 ...
*
Carl XVI Gustaf
Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history.
Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...
*
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
*
Emil Constantinescu
Emil Constantinescu (; born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000.
After the Romanian Revolution, Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member ...
*
Jean-Luc Dehaene
*
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...
*
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja.
Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal famil ...
*
Harald V of Norway
Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991.
A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the Succession to t ...
*
Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her List of Danish royal consorts, royal consort from Margrethe's a ...
*
Thomas Klestil
*
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until Abdication of Margrethe II, her abdication on 14 January 2024. Ha ...
*
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, , on 19 August 1973) is a member of the Norwegian royal family. She is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne.
A Norwegian commoner ...
*
Queen Paola of Belgium
*
Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...
*
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...
*
Queen Silvia of Sweden
Silvia (born Silvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 December 1943) is Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She has held this title since her marriage to Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976. The king and queen have three children: Crown Princess Vict ...
*
Queen Sonja of Norway
Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen; 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway as the wife of King Harald V.
Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relationship a secret due to the ...
*
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (; born 1 January 1952) is a member of Qatar's royal family, the House of Thani. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 until 2013 when he abdicated the throne, handing power to his fourth son Tamim bin Hamad Al ...
*
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
*
Zhelyu Zhelev
Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev (; 3 March 1935 – 30 January 2015) was a Bulgarian politician and former dissident who served as the first democratically elected and non-Communist President of Bulgaria, from 1990 to 1997. Zhelev was one of the most prom ...
;1st Class with Swords (Military)
*
Kliment Boyadzhiev
*
Radko Dimitriev
*
Ivan Fichev
*
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark may refer to:
* Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (1753–1805), heir presumptive from 1766 to 1768
*Frederick IV of Denmark (1671–1730), King of Denmark and Norway, Crown Prince from 1671 to 1699
*Frederic ...
*
Georgi Ivanov (cosmonaut)
Major general Georgi Ivanov Kakalov (; born July 2, 1940) is a Bulgarian former military officer who was the first Bulgarian cosmonaut. He was a member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria in 1990.
Early life and military career
Born in Lovec ...
*
Prince Joachim of Denmark
*
Stiliyan Kovachev
*
Vasil Kutinchev
*
Mihail Savov
*
Georgi Todorov (general)
*
Stefan Toshev
;1st Class (Civilian)
*
Aleksandr Panayotov Aleksandrov
*
Cécilia Attias
Cécilia María Sara Isabel Attias ( Ciganer-Albéniz, formerly Martin and Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa; born 12 November 1957) was the second wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy until October 2007.
Background
Cecilia Attias was born Cécilia M ...
*
Irina Bokova
*
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
*
Ignat Kaneff
*
Krzysztof Krajewski
*
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
Mary (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is List of Danish royal consorts, Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Frederik X.
Mary met Frederik (then Crown Prince of Denmark) while attending the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Wedd ...
*
Louis Michel
*
Alois Mock
*
Bujar Nishani
*
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
*
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became ...
;Other or Unknown Classes
*
Ivan Abadzhiev
*
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
*
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
*
Gustáv Husák
Gustáv Husák ( , ; ; 10 January 1913 – 18 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak politician who served as the long-time First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1987 and the President of Czechoslovakia from 1975 ...
*
Islam Karimov
Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was an Uzbek politician who served as the first president of Uzbekistan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his death in 2016. He was the last First Secretary of the ...
*
Jarosław Lindenberg
*
Tatyana Lolova
*
Musa Manarov
*
Georgi Markov
Georgi Ivanov Markov ( ; 1 March 1929 – 11 September 1978) was a Bulgarian dissident writer. He originally worked as a novelist, screenwriter and playwright in his native country, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, until his defection in 196 ...
*
Yordan Radichkov
*
Wincenty Rzymowski
Wincenty Rzymowski (19 July 1883 – 30 April 1950) was a Polish politician and writer.
Career
In the Second Polish Republic, Wincenty Rzymowski was a member of the Democratic Party and a known publicist. He was also forced to resign his membe ...
*
Viktor Savinykh
*
Anatoly Solovyev
*
Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov
*
Rangel Valchanov
See also
*
List of honours of Bulgaria awarded to heads of state and royalty
References
External links
Law on the Orders and the Medals of the Republic of Bulgaria.
*
ttp://visit.vratza.com/index.php?r=about_botev/d3946&id=3946&lang=bu Information on the International Botev Prize.
*
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