Order of the Million Elephants and a White Screen

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Order of the Million Elephants and the White Umbrella (Knight's Cross)

The Order of the Million Elephants and the White Umbrella (French: Ordre du Million d'Éléphants et du Parasol Blanc ) was the highest award of the French Protectorate and later Kingdom of Laos .

History and rental practice

Laos had become a protectorate of France and part of the Union Indochinoise in 1893 . The royal court of Luang Prabang , which had previously had little contact with the western world, now adopted European customs within a few years, including the wearing of uniforms and associated decorations.

In 1909, King Sisavang Vong founded the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Umbrella as the country's first Order of Merit. Initially only intended for Laotians, the award criteria were changed in 1923 so that French citizens or residents of the French colonial empire could also be awarded. The order was also generously given to foreign visitors to Laos. In 1927 four religious classes were introduced, changed in 1936 to five levels and a special level based on the Legion of Honor .

The order was intended to honor both civilian and military merits. The medal was awarded by the king, but the right of nomination lay with the Résident supérieur of Laos and the governor general of Indochina , which meant that the decision on the award was in fact made by the French administration. Usually, the order was awarded to French colonial officials and officers who had spent a certain period of service (formally ten years according to the awarding guidelines) in Laos. The lower classes were thus awarded very frequently over the years. Like the Legion of Honor, the order could also be awarded to cities, such as Verdun (which also shows that a reference to Laos was not a requirement).

After the formation of the Kingdom of Laos and the country's independence at the end of the first Indochina War , the references to France were canceled, apart from that the order continued unchanged. At its highest level, it was now regularly awarded on state visits to other heads of state, such as the royal couples of Thailand and Nepal.

With the abolition of the monarchy as part of the communist takeover in 1975, the order ceased to exist.

Order description

Grand Cross (breast star)
Grand Cross, associated shoulder strap

The name of the order is derived from the ancient Laotian empire Lan Xang , whose full name Lan Xang Hom Khao literally means "one million elephants and the white umbrella". The kings of Luang Prabang saw themselves as the successors of the former great empire and continued its titling and symbols.

The order accordingly represents the insignia of Luang Prabang, which was included in the flag of the Protectorate of Laos during the French colonial period , namely a three-headed white elephant under a seven-tiered white umbrella. The elephant is Erawan , the Thai-Laotian variant of the sacred elephant Airavata from Hindu mythology. The screen (Sanskrit: Chatra ) is a typical symbol of royalty. The elephant and umbrella are surrounded by a peacock wheel (another royal symbol), golden shields and a gold-decorated red banner with the Lao inscription "the million elephants and the white umbrella of Luang Prabang".

The associated ribbon is red and yellow and decorated with geometric patterns.

The awards were made both by French jewelers in the motherland ( Maison Bacqueville and Auger Froment-Meurice ) and directly in Laos, whereby the local variants are usually much simpler than the enamel- decorated French pieces.

In the final determination, the order classes are in descending order of precedence as follows, each with an associated strap :

Other Royal Laotian awards

The Ordre du Million d'Éléphants et du Parasol Blanc initially remained the country's only award after its introduction. In the 1920s, the Médaille du Règne (also called Médaille Royale de Luang Prabang ), a medal with a portrait of the king, was added as a second decoration .

In 1949, the Médaille de la Résistance Franco-Laotienne was created as the third award , with which anti-Japanese resistance fighters of the Second World War were honored.

In 1950, with the Ordre du Mérite Civique and the Ordre du Mérite Agricole, two other orders followed, honoring services in state administration and (agriculture) economics.

After Laos gained independence, other awards were gradually created, such as the Médaille de l'Instruction publique for achievements in the education system and the Ordre du Mérite Féminin for the merits of women. A general veteran's medal ( Médaille du Combattant ) in the style of the Croix de guerre and the Médaille de la Vaillance for bravery in combat emerged as a military medal .

In 1962 the Ordre de la Couronne (Order of the Crown) was finally introduced for relatives of the royal family and established in the protocol order as the second highest order in the country.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Fay, Indochina Medals: THE ORDERS AND MEDALS OF THE KINGDOM OF LAOS (accessed November 2019)
  2. ↑ a b c David Fay, Indochina Medals: ORDER OF THE MILLION ELEPHANTS AND THE WHITE PARASOL (accessed November 2019)
  3. ↑ Bulletin des Societes d'Histoire et d'Archeologie de la Meuse , issues 8–13, Bar-le-Duc 1971, p. 61 ( “Par lettre du 14 mars 1927, le Gouverneur Général de l'Indochine, avisait le Maire de Verdun que SM Sisavang Vong, roi de Luang Prabang (Laos) avait décidé de conférer à la Cité de Verdun "L'Ordre du million d'éléphants et du Parasol Blanc" " )
  4. ^ Nirmal Rimal: Who's Who-Nepal, 1992 , National Research Associates, Kathmandu 1992, p. Xvii
  5. ↑ Indochina Medals: Décorations laotiennes (accessed November 2019)
  6. ↑ David Fay, Indochina Medals: ORDER OF THE CROWN (accessed November 2019)