Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''

Per aspera ad astra is a Latin language, Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his ''Aeneid'': "''sic itur ad astra''" ('thus one journeys to the stars') and "''opta ardua pennis astra sequi''" ('desire to pursue t ...

'', meaning "Through hardships towards the stars". The Order has five ranks and three grades of medals of honour.

History

In the first half of 1921 the

Constitutional Assembly of Latvia The Constitutional Assembly of Latvia () was independent Latvia's first elected legislative body. Its main task was creating the constitution of Latvia, the Satversme, which is still in effect to this day. The Speaker of Assembly was Jānis Čaks ...

began to discuss introducing the first national awards and decorations. A proposed design and statutes of a three-class Order of the Wreath of Oak () was rejected by the assembly (especially by the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

and their leader

Brūno Kalniņš Brūno (also: Bruno) Haralds Kalniņš (7 May 1898 – 26 March 1990) was a Latvian people, Latvian Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, social democratic politician and historian. He was the son of prominent social-democratic politician ...

), arguing that before the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

was approved, it could not be clear whether a democratic country such as Latvia should have orders in the first place. The ''Satversme'' was adopted in 1922, removing this obstacle. The order was officially established according to the Law on the Order of the Three Stars of 24 March 1924, with the first awards being conferred in 1925 to the then-President

Jānis Čakste Jānis Kristaps Čakste (; 14 September 1859 – 14 March 1927) was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of an independent Latvian state as the Chairman of the Tautas Padome, People's Council (1918–1920), the Speaker o ...

, Foreign Minister

Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (, Durbe – 22 August 1925, near Tukums) was a Latvian politician and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Latvia from its independence until 1924 and again from December of the same year until his dea ...

, poet and activist

Rainis Jānis Pliekšāns (11 September 1865 – 11 September 1929), known by his pseudonym Rainis, was a Latvian Poetry, poet, playwright, Translation, translator, and politics, politician. Rainis' works include the classic plays ''Uguns un nakts'' ('' ...

and politician

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician and a dictator. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from N ...

. The designer of the order was

Gustavs Šķilters Gustavs Šķilters (15 November 1874 – 24 September 1954) was a Latvian artist, working mainly as a sculptor. Biography Gustavs Šķilters was born in present-day Rencēni Parish, the son of a blacksmith, and trained to become an artist in S ...

, whereas

Rihards Zariņš Rihards Zariņš (also Richards Zarriņš or Richard Sarrinsch in German; 27 June 1869 – 21 April 1939) was a Latvian graphic artist. Life He was born in Kocēni and grew up in Līgatne and later in Grīva. He pursued his studies in St. Pet ...

designed the diploma. Unlike today, in the interwar period the recipients of the order were obliged to reimburse the government of the cost of the order. The First Class order, for instance, had a cost of 150 Ls, which was equal to a monthly salary of an average worker at the time - this led to some instances where the recipients refused the award out of financial reasons. Additionally, if an order was manufactured, but not taken out of government storage within two years, the award was rescinded. Until 1940, 8823 orders and 7973 Medals of Honor were awarded. After the end of the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the Order was re-established on 25 October 1994, with the first recipients being awarded on November 7.

The ranks

The Order of the Three Stars has five classes:The Order of the Three Stars
- website of the

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of this office is four years. Before 1999, it was three years. The presi ...

# Commander of the Great Cross (1st class) # Grand Officer (2nd class) # Commander (3rd class) # Officer (4th class) # Bearer (5th class) Those who received the Order of the Three Stars, 1st Class and who are of particular distinction may also be awarded with the Chain of the Order as a special mark of honor (''see below''). In addition, honorary medals are issued at three levels: # Gilded Medal (1st Class) # Silver Medal (2nd Class) # Bronze Medal (3rd Class) A diploma and a miniature version of the order and the Medals of Honor are also awarded along the main award.

The cross

The cross of the order is white enamel cross within gilded edges. In the center of the front side of the cross there is blue enamel medallion with three golden five-point stars on it. The reverse side features a gilded medallion with inscriptions "''

''", "''Latvijas Republika — 1918. g. 18. novembris''" () and '1994'.

The Stars

The Stars are first and second rate orders. The first rate order and the second rate order, (the great star and the small star, respectively) have similar design and differ only in size. The stars are in shape of five point star made of silver with blue enamel medallion with three golden five-point stars in its center. On its edge there is an inscription "''Par Tēviju''" ().

Chain of the Order

The Chain of the Order is awarded to Commander of the Grand Cross in exceptional cases. It has ten gilded links with alternately chiseled images of three stars, fire-crosses, and

fasces A fasces ( ; ; a , from the Latin word , meaning 'bundle'; ) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, often but not always including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbol that had its origin in the Etrus ...

supported by a lion and

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

Medal of Honour

The Medal of Honour of the Order of the Three Stars () is a round medal with a diameter of 30 mm on front of which the cross of the order is depicted. The reverse side has inscription ''Par Tēviju'' with a flaming heart below the inscription. It has a wreath of oak leaves on its edge. The medal of honour has three grades – gold, silver and bronze.

References

External links

State awards
President of the Republic of Latvia
The Order of the Three Stars
President of the Republic of Latvia {{Latvian honours Orders, decorations, and medals of Latvia Three Stars, Order of the Awards established in 1924 1924 establishments in Latvia Order of the Three Stars