Italian orders of merit

There are five orders of knighthood awarded in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these sit a number of other decorations, associated and otherwise, that do not confer knighthoods. However, the former Royal House of Savoy also continues to award knighthoods in three orders of chivalry previously recognised by the Kingdom of Italy.

The degrees of knighthood, not all of which apply to all orders, are Knight (Cavaliere abbreviated Cav.), Officer (Ufficiale abbreviated Uff.), Commander (Commendatore abbreviated Comm.), Grand Officer (Gr. Uff.), Knight Grand Cross (Cav. Gr. Croce) and Knight Grand Cross with cordon. Italian citizens may not use within the territory of the Republic honours or distinctions conferred on them by non-national orders or foreign states, unless authorised by decree of the President of the Council of Ministers. The use of awards of the Holy See (including the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre) is subject to permission, while the use of those of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is unregulated.

The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic effectively replaced as national orders the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (1362), the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1572) and the Order of the Crown of Italy (1868), which the sovereign, as fons honorum, did not abdicate. Today these continue merely as dynastic orders of the former Royal house in exile. While their bestowal is suppressed by law in Italy, the use of those decorations conferred prior to 1951 is permitted, exclusive of any right of precedence in official ceremonies.

Investiture normally takes place on 2 June, the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic (celebrated in Italy as Festa della Repubblica) and on 27 December, the anniversary of the promulgation of the Italian Constitution. The badge bears the inscription Al Merito della Repubblica encircling the national emblem on the obverse and Patriae Unitati and Civium Libertati encircling the head of Italia Turrita on the reverse. The order is bestowed by decree of the President of the Italian Republic, as head of the orders of knighthood, on the recommendation of the President of the Council.

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