Romania Order of the Star of Romania

[Carol I]

The Order of the Star of Romania has recently become 130 years old. It was established in May 1877 through the first law passed after the declaration of independence. This was a highly symbolic gesture in the light of the long opposition of the Ottoman Empire towards the official establishment of a Romanian order.

The Order of the Star of Romania used the same insignia as the Order of Union established by Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1864 to mark the 5th anniversary of the union of the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia. The opposition of the Ottoman Empire as well as the political situation in Romania at that time prevented the completion of the establishment procedures during Prince Alexandru Ioan's reign although the insignia were already manufactured and some of them were even handed proprio motu by the prince. The insignia was subsequently used for the Order of the Star for the first awards of the War of Independence, with only minor changes (such as the motto and the cipher) that reflected the changes in Romanian society that occurred meanwhile.

The Order of the Star of Romania was restructured several times during its history, the most important being that of 1932 when the insignia and the ribbon were changed. The order in its traditional structure was officially disbanded in 1948 together with all the other awards of the national system of decorations. The order was re-established in 1998 and it is now the highest order of Romania.

Below is an example of the three main types of the order. They are a reflection of their respective periods of existence, both with respect to the design and the finishing quality.

[Guest Rick Research]

I've always wondered about the system for presenting this versus a Crown of Rumania. I've never been able to detect a pattern in either Rumanian award given to Prussians before 1914. By rank? Is the Star of Rumania more or less commopn than the Crown of Rumania Order?

During the seco0nd World War, it seems as if the Star was more often given to Germands than the Crown. But why?

[Carol I]

The Order of the Star of Romania has always been ranked above the Order of the Crown of Romania.

[Igor Ostapenko]

early badge of Order

[Carol I]

early badge of Order

Is this in your collection? If authentic, it is a badge of the short lived Order of the (Star of the) Union. May I please have better images of the badge?

[Igor Ostapenko]

I have only picture

[Carol I]

Here is an image of a Commander's Cross of the Order of the Star of the Union from the National Military Museum.

[Carol I]

I've always wondered about the system for presenting this versus a Crown of Rumania. I've never been able to detect a pattern in either Rumanian award given to Prussians before 1914. By rank? Is the Star of Rumania more or less commopn than the Crown of Rumania Order?

According to the 1906 regulations and presumably before that date as well "the Knight grade of the of the Order of the Star of Romania is above the Knight grade of the of the Order of the Crown of Romania and equal to the Officer grade of the latter order". Admission into the orders was to the lowest rank and promotion to higher ranks took place after specified time delays. Only in extraordinary circumstances these rules were to be overlooked. The foreigners were generally exempted from the regulations governing the awards to Romanian citizens.