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Order of the Crown of Italy Ordine della Corona d'Italia
Star of the Grand Cordon set of the Order
Awarded by The Head of the Italian Royal Family
Type	Dynastic Order of Knighthood
Established	20 February 1868
Royal house	House of Savoy
Eligibility	Military, civilian
Awarded for	Meritorious Service or Achievement
Status	Rarely constituted
Founder	King Victor Emmanuel II
Grand Master	Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Chairman of the Council	Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice
Grades	Grand Cordon, Special Class Grand Cordon Grand Officer Commander Officer Knight/Dame
Precedence
Next (higher)	Royal Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Next (lower)	Royal Civil Order of Savoy Royal Military Order of Savoy
Ribbon bar

The Order of the Crown of Italy, Italian: Ordine della Corona d'Italia, was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861.^[1] It was awarded in five degrees for civilian and military merit.

Compared with the older Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1572), the Order of the Crown of Italy was awarded more liberally and could be conferred on non-Catholics as well; eventually, it became a requirement for a person to have already received the Order of the Crown of Italy in at least the same degree before receiving the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

The order has been suppressed by law since the foundation of the Republic in 1946. However, Umberto II did not abdicate his position as fons honorum and it remained under his Grand Mastership as a dynastic order. While the continued use of those decorations conferred prior to 1951 is permitted in Italy, the crowns on the ribbons issued before 1946 must be substituted for as many five pointed stars on military uniforms.^[2]

Grades

The various degrees of the order, with corresponding ribbons, were as follows:

Ribbon	Class (English)	Class (Italian)	Manner of wear
	1st Class / Knight/Dame Grand Cordon	Gran Cordone	Badge on sash on right shoulder, plus star on left chest
	2nd Class / Grand Officer	Grande Ufficiale dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia	Star on left chest
	3rd Class / Commander	Commendatore dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia	Badge on necklet
	4th Class / Officer	Ufficiale dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia	Badge on ribbon with rosette on left chest
	5th Class / Knight	Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia	Badge on ribbon on left chest

Insignia

Medaglie
Regno d'Italia
Knight	Officer	Commander	Grand Officer	Knight Grand Cross
Repubblica Italiana e Casa Savoia
Knight	Officer	Commander	Grand Officer	Knight Grand Cross

• The badge of the order was a gilt cross with curved edges, enamelled in white, with the so-called Savoy knots between the arms of the cross. The obverse central disc featured the Iron Crown of Lombardy (as appeared on the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown) on a blue enamel background. The reverse central disc had a black-enamelled eagle bearing the Savoy cross on a golden background.


• The star of the Grand Cross was an eight-pointed faceted silver star; the central disc featured the Iron Crown on a blue enamelled background, surrounded by a white enamel ring bearing the inscription VICT. EMMAN. II REX ITALIAE MDCCCLXVI (Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy, 1866). There was a black-enamelled eagle bearing the Savoy cross above the star.


• The star of the Grand Officer was an eight-pointed faceted silver star with ball tips at each point and with the obverse of the badge superimposed upon it.


• The ribbon of the order was red-white-red.

Members

Members of the order have included:

• 
  John Buchan (1875–1940), Scottish novelist and diplomat


• 
  Vice Admiral Felice Napoleone Canevaro (1838–1926), Italian admiral and diplomat


• 
  Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), Scottish statesman and Sherlock Holmes author


• 
  James Whitelaw Hamilton (1860–1932), Scottish artist, member of the Royal Scottish Academy
  


• 
  William Ernest Powell Giles (1835–1897), Australian explorer, gambler, not always strictly sober.


• 
  Thomas Hanbury (1832–1907), English philanthropist and creator of the Giardini Botanici Hanbury
  


• 
  Vice Admiral Jules James (1885-1957) Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean at the close of WW II, decorated by the last King of Italy, Umberto II during his 34 day reign.


• 
  Major General Clayton P. Kerr (1900–1977), United States Army general, World War II member of the Allied Mission to the Italian Army
  


• Major General Robert A. McClure (1897–1957), father of U.S. Army Special Operations, Director of Information and Media Control at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) during World War II


• 
  Brigadier General Billy Mitchell (1879–1936), United States Army air power advocate


• 
  Charles Poletti (1903–2002), American lawyer and politician, Governor of New York, and colonel in the United States Army; served in Italy during World War II


• 
  John Rylands (1801–1888), English entrepreneur and philanthropist


• 
  Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, Jr. (1872–1948), United States Navy sea power advocate


• 
  Harry Woodburn Blaylock (1878–1928), Canadian lawyer and businessman^[3]
  


• 
  Giacomo Vuxani (1886–1964), Italian politician and patriot

See also

• List of Italian orders of knighthood


• Dynastic Orders of Knighthood

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Order of the Crown of Italy.