Grand Cordon

Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, the rank of Grand Cross may come after another even higher rank, e.g. Grand Collar. In rare cases, solely the actual insignia is referred to as the "grand cross".

In international relations, in many times the class of Grand Cross is typically reserved for royalty, heads of state and equivalent.

Sometimes a holder of the highest class or grade are referred to as "Commander Grand Cross", "Knight Grand Cross" or just "Grand Cross".

In the United Kingdom, the rank entails admission to knighthood, allowing the recipient to use the honorific title "Sir" (male) or "Dame" (female) as a style before his or her name, while entitled "Knight Grand Cross" or "Dame Grand Cross". This stands in contrast to the typical practice in other countries where knighthood is conferred at the initial, lowest rank of the order, typically "Knight".

The orders in which the highest rank (or second after "Collar") is named "Grand Cordons" include the following orders:

Illustration of typical insignia, as in the case of the Legion of Honour of France.

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