Vietnam: Khải Định (啓定), emperor of Đại Nam (大南)*

[No one]

Dear Gentlemen,

 

What decoration adorns the neck of the emperor of Đại Nam (大南) Khải Định (啓定)?

 

He was the only Vietnamese emperor to wear it and to my knowledge it has never been identified.

 

 

 

 

*Đại Nam (大南):

Did you know that? Vietnam was never called "Annam" in Vietnamese history.

Its names were Đại Việt (大越) from 1054 to 1804, then Việt Nam (越南) from 1804 to 1838 and it was Minh Mạng (明命帝) who changed it to Đại Nam (大南) in 1838, official name found on all Vietnamese documents until 1945, including diplomas of orders, decorations and medals.

"Annam / 安南" (Pacified South) was the name given by the Tang dynasty to its protectorate over part of what is now Vietnam from 618 to 939.  
The name was adopted because it suited the colonisers.
"Empire of Annam" and "Annamite ethnic group" is a French interpretation. Only "Vietnam" or "Vietnamese" should be or should have been used.

So in the Vietnamese part of the documents it reads "Đại Nam / 大南" and in the French part "Annam / 安南".

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one