Order of the national coat of arms

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Order of the State Coat of Arms (V level)

The Order of the State Coat of Arms ( Estonian Riigivapi teenetemärk ) is a state order of merit of the Republic of Estonia .

history

The Order of the State Coat of Arms was founded with the Estonian Order of October 7, 1936 in memory of the proclamation of the Republic of Estonia on February 24, 1918 and the freedom struggle of the Estonian people. It was awarded for the first time a year later. Until the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940, the Order of Merit was awarded only 21 times: to ten Estonian, ten Finnish and one Polish citizens.

After Estonian regained independence in 1991, Estonia continued the pre-war tradition with the Order of the Order of May 5, 1994, but created the Order of the Marian Cross, a medal of honor that is only awarded to foreigners.

Award

The order of the national coat of arms is only awarded to Estonians by the Estonian President on the Estonian Independence Day in February each year. It pays tribute to special services to the Republic of Estonia.

The Order of Merit is awarded in six order levels: in five basic levels (I. as the highest level) and in a special level with a chain. The special level is only available to Estonian heads of state.

The design of the order comes from the Estonian artist Paul Luhtein (1909–2007). All orders are gold-plated on both sides. The order shows the great national coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia . The date "24. II. 1918" can be seen on the back.

Special level of the order of the national coat of arms

President Kersti Kaljulaid with the special level of the Estonian national coat of arms with chain and her predecessor Toomas Hendrik Ilves with the 1st class of the order after the handover (2016)

The special tier of the Estonian national coat of arms with chain ( Riigivapi teenetemärgi kett ), introduced in 1936, is reserved for the incumbent Estonian head of state. The gold chain adorned with precious stones was created in the same year by the artist Paul Luhtein . The chain is worn with a golden breast star.

The chain of office is passed on to the successor when he leaves the office of President. That is why only one copy was made for the first President Konstantin Päts in the 1930s .

As a chain of office (Estonian ametiraha ) of the Estonian President, the order represents the state insignia of the Republic of Estonia. President Konstantin Päts also wore the execution of the order with a special shoulder ribbon ( erisuurpael ).

As announced in 1971, the chain of office came with the occupation of Estonia by the Red Army in 1940 and the kidnapping of President Pats inside Russia after Moscow . It was initially stored in the Soviet Ministry of Finance and in the 1963 Armory of the Kremlin ( Russian Оружейная палата kept). It is not generally accessible. Estonian demands for the return of the chain of office have so far been rejected by the Russian side.

In February 2008 the Estonian Presidents Lennart Meri (posthumously), Arnold Rüütel and Toomas Hendrik Ilves were awarded the highest class of the Order of the State Coat of Arms. At the same time, a new golden chain of office was made, similar to the one created in 1936. It is 30 mm wide and set with precious stones: a South African ruby , three cornflower- colored sapphires from Sri Lanka and 94 diamonds . With the new chain of office, the chain located in Moscow was declared a museum piece by the Estonian government. President Kaljulaid received the new chain of office from her predecessor Ilves when she was sworn in on October 10, 2016.

statistics

Between 1937 and 2008, the Order of the State Coat of Arms was awarded a total of 499 times.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.riigikantselei.ee/?id=594
  2. ↑ http://www.riigikantselei.ee/?id=2488
  3. ↑ http://www.president.ee/et/ametitegevus/ametlikud_teated.php?gid=109326  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.president.ee  
  4. ↑ http://www.rk.ee/symb/tm_stat.htm ( Memento from February 23, 2005 in the Internet Archive )