The Order of Carol I ( Romanian: Ordinul Carol I) was the highest ranking of the Romanian honours of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

until the abolition of the monarchy in 1947. It was instituted on 10 May 1906 by King Carol I to celebrate the

Ruby Jubilee A ruby jubilee marks a 40th anniversary. Ruby jubilees in recent history See also * Hierarchy of precious substances * List of longest-reigning monarchs * Wedding anniversary A wedding anniversary is the anniversary of the date a wedd ...

of 40 years of his reign. During its time as a national order, it was widely used to reward members of the

Romanian royal family The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...

, Romanian Prime Ministers, Romanian politicians, foreign monarchs and heads of state, selected consorts and heirs, and other people thought to be worthy of receiving the order by the

King of Romania The King of Romania (Romanian: ''Regele României'') or King of the Romanians (Romanian: ''Regele Românilor''), was the title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when the Romanian Workers' Party proclaimed the Romani ...

. It is currently a

dynastic order A dynastic order, monarchical order, or house order is an order under royal patronage. Such an order is bestowed by, as a legitimate , a sovereign or the head of a once-sovereign ruling family. These are often considered part of the cultural pat ...

of the former Romanian royal family. It is the highest-ranking award among all the decorations of the Romanian Royal House and is administered by its head. There are currently no foreign knights or dames of the order, except for members of the Romanian royal family.

Classes

The order has only the superior classes, each of them with limited numbers: * Grand Cross with Collar (limited to 10) * Grand Cross (limited to 20) * Grand Officer (limited to 30) * Commander (limited to 40) Posseeders of the order, regardless of degree, call themselves ''Knight of the Order of Carol I''.

Insignia

Collar

The ''Collar'' is in Gold and consists of 8 links of the emblems of the Danubian Principalities of The: Principality of Wallachia,

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Central ...

, Principality of Oltenia and Principality of Dobruja, 4 emblems on either side of the collar with 2 of the emblems of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

between each two Principalities; between each emblem is the monogram of King Carol I. At the back of the collar is the lock which is an Eagle with open wings which suspends in half to wear. At the front of the collar is the Steel Crown of Romania which the badge of the order suspends from.

Badge

* The ''Badge'' is the Romanian Eagle on top of a square Gold sunray on top of a Red Maltese cross. The Eagle wears the Crown of Romania, holds the

Orthodox cross The Russian Orthodox Cross (or just the Orthodox Cross by some Russian Orthodox traditions) is a variation of the Christian cross since the 16th century in Russia, although it bears some similarity to a cross with a bottom crossbeam slanted the ...

in its beak, holds the Sword of King Carol I in its left claw, holds the Royal Mantle in its right claw and supports the ribbon inscribed "PRIN STATORNICIE LA IZBÂNDĂ" by both its claws whilst on its chest is a small Gold effigy of King Carol I. On the obverse is the Red Maltese cross on top of the Gold sunray, in the middle of the Maltese Cross is a small Gold monogram of King Carol I. * The Badge is featured on: The Collar, The Sash, The Medal and The Necklet.

Stars

There are two types of stars of the order: 1st which is for the Grand Cross with Collar/Grand Cross and the 2nd which is for the Grand Officer; both are to worn on the left stomach. * The 1st ''Star'' is in Gold which is 8-pointed, set in sunray's and is similar in shape of the Swedish

Royal Order of the Seraphim The Royal Order of the Seraphim ( sv, Kungliga Serafimerorden; ''Seraphim'' being a category of angels) is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the P ...

; the Eagle which is on the Badge is on top of the star and set in Silver. * The 2nd ''Star'' is also in Gold and also in sunray's, it is set in a

Rhombus In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (plural rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The ...

shape and is similar in shape of the Dutch Order of the Crown; the Eagle which is on the Badge is on top of the star and set in Gold.

Sash

The ''Sash'' is pale Blue with Gold edges bearing a narrow Red stripe; at the bottom of the sash is a bow which joins both sides together and where the badge hangs from; It is worn from the right shoulder.

Recipients

Grand Cross with Collar

; Romanian royal family * King Carol I of Romania * Queen Elisabeth of Romania * King Ferdinand I of Romania *

Queen Marie of Romania Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last Queen of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal family. Her parents were Prince Alfred, ...

* Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen - revoked * Prince Nicholas of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen - revoked *

King Michael I of Romania Michael I ( ro, Mihai I ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's ...

Current Recipients of the order
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Queen Anne of Romania Princess Anne Antoinette Françoise Charlotte Zita Marguerite of Bourbon-Parma (18 September 1923 – 1 August 2016) was the wife of King Michael I of Romania. Michael abdicated the throne in 1947, and he and Anne married the next year. Nonethe ...

* Margareta, Custodian of the Crown of Romania ;Romania *

Gheorghe Manu Gheorghe Manu (26 July 1833, Bucharest, Wallachia – 16 May 1911, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania) was a Romanian Army general, artillery inspector and statesman. He served as Prime Minister (1889–1891), Minister of War, Minister of the Inter ...

, 17th

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* Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, 20th & 23rd Prime Minister of Romania * Patriarch Miron of Romania, 38th Prime Minister of Romania and 7th

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;Foreign * Albanian Royal Family: Former King Zog I of Albania * : King Boris III of the Bulgarians * :

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia * :

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, 1st President of Czechoslovakia * : Albert François Lebrun, 15th

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* German Imperial and Royal Family: Former Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany *

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...

: King Constantine I of Greece *

King George II of Greece George II ( el, Γεώργιος Βʹ, ''Geórgios II''; 19 July Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S.:_7_July.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S.:_7_July">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/ ...

: King Paul I of Greece * :

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* : King Haakon VII of Norway * Ottoman Imperial Family: Former Emperor Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire, 33rd

Ottoman Caliph The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. D ...

Russian Imperial Family The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...

: Former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia * : Colin Robert Ballard, Brigadier of the British Army * :

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Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I ( sr-Cyrl, Александар I Карађорђевић, Aleksandar I Karađorđević, ) ( – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier, was the prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later the King of Yug ...

Grand Cross

; Romanian royal family * Queen Mother Helen of Romania * Prince Radu of Romania ;Romania * Theodor Rosetti, 16th Prime Minister of Romania * Alexandru Averescu, 24th, 27th and 31st Prime Minister of Romania * Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, 28th, 35th and 37th Prime Minister of Romania * Nicolae Iorga, 34th Prime Minister of Romania * Gheorghe Tătărescu, 36th and 42nd Prime Minister of Romania *

Constantin Prezan Constantin Prezan (January 27, 1861 – August 27, 1943) was a Romanian general during World War I. In 1930 he was given the honorary title of Marshal of Romania, as a recognition of his merits during his command of the Northern Army and of the ...

, 28th and 25th Chief of the Romanian General Staff ;Foreign * :

King Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

* : Queen Elisabeth, Queen Grandmother of Belgium * : Former King Leopold III of Belgium * Germany ** German Imperial and Royal Family: Empress Augusta Victoria, Former Empress Consort of Germany *** Grand Ducal Family of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Prince Georg Alexander, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz *

: Queen Sophia, Queen Mother of Greece *

Greek Royal Family The Greek royal family (Greek: Ελληνική Βασιλική Οικογένεια) is a branch of the Danish royal family, itself a branch of the House of Glücksburg, that reigned in Greece from 1863 to 1924 and again from 1935 to 1973. It ...

: Queen Frederica, Queen Mother of Greece * Italian Royal Family: Former King Umberto II of Italy * : Józef Piłsudski, Chief of State of Poland *

: Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, The Former Empress Consort of Russia * : Prince Arsen of Yugoslavia * :

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical ...

, Prime Minister of Serbia and Yugoslavia

Grand Officer

; Romanian royal family *

Princess Elisabeth of Romania Elisabeth of Romania (full name ''Elisabeth Charlotte Josephine Alexandra Victoria'': ro, Elisabeta a României, el, Ελισάβετ της Ρουμανίας; 12 October 1894 – 14 November 1956) was a princess of Romania and member of t ...

* Queen Maria, Queen Mother of Yugoslavia * Princess Ileana of Romania *

Princess Elena of Romania Princess Elena of Romania (born 15 November 1950) is the second eldest daughter of King Michael I and Queen Anne of Romania. Elena would have been first in the line of succession to the former Romanian throne and headship of the House of Rom ...

;Romania * Constantin C. Arion, 50th Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania * General Nicolae Samsonovici, 20th Chief of the Romanian General Staff

References

{{Reflist

External links

Orders and Decorations of the Romanian Royal Family
House of Romania Carol I, Order of Awards established in 1906