History

This Order was considered the highest State Honour of the Republic of Hungary until re-institution of the Order of St. Stephen in 2011.

The Order is awarded in recognition of meritorious service that have added value to a field of society or service, such as the military, culture, sciences, and the arts.

The Order is conferred in two versions, the Military Division and Civil Division. The only differences between the two versions are the colour of the ribbon and the colour of the enamel that borders the edges of the cross arms.

The awards conferred within the Civil Division have green enamel along the cross arm borders, and green ribbons with thin red and white stripes along the exterior edges. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Crosses have additional red stripes in the centre of the ribbon, with three red stripes for the Gold Cross, two red stripes for the Silver Cross, and one red stripe for the Bronze Cross.

The awards conferred within the Military Division have red enamel along the cross arm borders, and red ribbons with thin green and white stripes along the exterior edges. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Crosses have additional green stripes in the centre of the ribbon, with three green stripes for the Gold Cross, two green stripes for the Silver Cross, and one green stripe for the Bronze Cross.

The Small Grand Cross was worn as a less formal version of the full-sized Grand Cross.

These grades, also known as Kleine Dekorationen or Small Orders, adopted the form of the Knight Cross with associated ribbon decorations.

The ribbon of the Small Grand Cross (Civil Division) features a miniature decoration of the Grand Cross Breast Star (Civil Division).

The ribbon of the Small Grand Cross (Military Division) features a miniature decoration of the Grand Cross Breast Star (Military Division).

See the Hungarian Order of Merit, HUN102, in the Hungarian Regency (1918-1944), the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, HUN149, in the Republic of Hungary (1944-1949), and the Order of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic, HUN159, in the Hungarian People's Republic (1949-1989) for more information.

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