Imperial Order of the Cross

Imperial Order of the Cross
The Imperial Order of the Cross
Awarded by the Emperor of Brazil
TypeNational Order and dynastic order
MottoBenemerentium Præmium
StatusSuperseded by the National Order of the Southern Cross
FounderPedro I of Brazil
Grand MasterThe President of Brazil[1] (the national order)
ChancellorThe Minister of Foreign Affairs[1]
GradesGrand Collar
Grand Cross
Grand Officer
Commander
Officer
Knight
Statistics
First inductionDecember 1, 1822[2]

Ribbon bar of the National Order of the Southern Cross

The Imperial Order of the Cross (Portuguese: Ordem Imperial do Cruzeiro) was a Brazilian order of chivalry founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 1822) and the coronation of Pedro I (1 December 1822).[3] The name derives from the geographical position of the country, under the constellation of the Southern Cross and also in memory of the name – Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross) – given to Brazil following its first arrival by Europeans in 1500.[2]

History

The Order was created by Emperor Pedro I on the day of his coronation, 1 December 1822. Also on the same date the first knights of the order were appointed, to commemorate the crowning of the Empire's first monarch. After the proclamation of the independence of Brazil on 7 September 1822 other honorific awards had been made, but of the Orders of chivalry shared with Portugal, Brazilian branches of which had been created upon independence; the Order of the Cross, created to mark the Coronation of the Empire's founder, was thus also the first purely Brazilian Order.

The Order of the Southern Cross was not the highest ranking of the Imperial Orders, as it ranked below the Brazilian branches of the ancient orders of chivalry, that originated with Portugal: the Order of Christ (the senior-most Order), the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz and the Order of St. James of the Sword. Those Orders were shared by Brazil and Portugal; the Order of Christ was shared with the Holy See, similar to the Austrian and a Spanish Orders of the Golden Fleece. However, among the Brazilian created Orders, the Imperial Order of the Cross ranked first, having higher status than the Imperial Order of Pedro I and the Imperial Order of the Rose.

The Emperor of Brazil was ex officio the Grand Master of the Imperial Order of the Cross.

After the fall of the monarchy, Brazil's first republican Constitution, enacted on 24 February 1891, abolished all titles of nobility and all Imperial Orders and decorations.[2]

On 5 December 1932, President Getúlio Vargas instituted the National Order of the Southern Cross.[2]

The Grand Coat of Arms of the Empire of Brazil displayed the badge of the Imperial Order of the Cross suspended from a blue necklet.

Between the proclamation of the Brazilian Republic until 1932, no National Orders existed, and the Brazilian State bestowed only military medals.[4] In 1932, the Order of the Southern Cross was the first Order to be created in the re-established, republican honours system. It is considered the senior Brazilian National Order.

Criteria

Pedro I, first Emperor of Brazil, founder and first Grand Master of the Order, wearing the Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Cross (then the Order's highest rank) among other orders.
Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria, Empress consort of Brazil, wears the insignia of the Imperial Order of the Cross and other orders.
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, Grand Master of the Order, wearing the Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Cross. The portrait displays both the star of the Order and the sash of a Knight Grand Cross.

Unlike the modern Order of the Southern Cross, which is only awarded to foreign nationals, the Imperial Order of the Cross was awarded to Brazilians and foreigners alike.

Queen Maria II of Portugal, eldest daughter of Pedro I of Brazil and sister of Pedro II, wearing the Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Cross and other orders.

Notable recipients

among others

Brazilians

among others

References

  1. 1 2 Condecorações: Cruizeiro do Sul – Conselho Archived 2012-03-11 at the Wayback Machine Ministério das Relações Exteriores. Retrieved on 2010-10-10. (in Portuguese).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Condecorações: Cruizeiro do Sul – Histórico Archived 2010-09-02 at the Wayback Machine Ministério das Relações Exteriores. Retrieved on 2010-10-10. (in Portuguese).
  3. ↑ White, William. Notes and queries, Volume 78. London: 1888, p. 173.
  4. ↑ Even the short-lived republican Ordem de Colombo (Order of Columbus) that had been established by the Provisional Government of the Republic as a replacement to the Imperial Orders, was abolished when Congress promulgated Brazil's first republican Constitution on 24 February 1891, declaring all Orders abolished and stating that the Republic would maintain no Orders. Only after the 1891 Constitution had ceased to operate due to the 1930 Revolution was a republican honours system created, beginning with the recreation of the Order of the Southern Cross in 1932.
  5. ↑ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1910, p. 12
  6. ↑ Stewart, Charles Samuel, Brazil and La Plata, the personal record of a cruise, p. 335
  7. ↑ "Lorde Cochrane, o turbulento Marquês do Maranhão" (PDF). Revista Navigator. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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