Order for merits to agriculture and trade

Grand Cross,
Agriculture Department

Officer's Cross,
Commercial Department (left); Commander's Cross,
Industry Department (right)

The Order for Merit in Agriculture and Commerce was founded on June 4, 1893 by King Dom Carlos I and is intended to be awarded to persons and institutions who have made merits to Portugal in the field of agriculture and trade . On February 19, 1991, the order received new statutes and has since been called the Order for Services to Agriculture, Trade and Industry .

Order classes

The medal consists of five classes and was initially awarded in the agriculture and trade departments. In 1991 the Industry department was added.

• Grand Cross (Grã-Cruz)
• Grand Officer (Grande-Oficial)
• Commander (Comendador)
• Officer (oficial)
• Medal (medalha)

Order decoration

The medal is a gold - plated nine-pointed star that hangs on a green enamelled laurel wreath . A second, enamelled nine-pointed star is attached to the star, which shows the coat of arms of Portugal in the medallion , which is surrounded by a white enameled ring. The symbols of the order differ in the individual departments as follows

• Agriculture - green enamelled star with the inscription MERITO AGRICOLA
• Commercial - blue enamelled star with the inscription MERITO COMERCIAL
• Industry - red enamelled star with the inscription MERITO INDUSTRIAL

Carrying method

The grand cross is carried on a sash from the right shoulder to the left hip and is worn with a nine-pointed gold-plated breast star . Grand officer and commander decorate the award as a neck medal , grand officers additionally with a silver-plated breast star. Officers wear the award on a ribbon with a rosette on the left side of the chest.

The ribbon varies depending on the department. For agricultural merit it is green with a white median, for business it is blue with a white median, and for industry it is red with a white median.

Known carriers (selection)

Grand Cross Hans Eltze 1943 Consul Manfred von Mautner Markhof 1966 Hermann Reinhardt 1951 Reinfried Franz Pohl 1998 Günther Serres 1961 Otto Stahlmann 1961 Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos 2006 Américo Amorim 2006 Joe Kaeser 2015

Web links

• Information on the website of the Portuguese President ( Memento of June 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• Legal provisions on the Portuguese religious system ( Memento of January 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 79 kB)
• List of medal holders from 1975 to 2007 ( Memento from February 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 2.56 MB)