An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state , monarch , dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit , that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars , medals , badges , and sashes worn by recipients.
31-599: The Rikugun Bukōkishō ( 陸軍武功徽章 ) ("Badge for Military Merit"), commonly called the Bukōshō , was a military decoration of the Empire of Japan , established on 7 December 1944 by Imperial edict. It was awarded by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) to living soldiers who had performed with exceptional valor in battle. Airmen, especially fighter pilots defending Japan against enemy bombers, were most likely to win
62-596: A badge worn with or without a ribbon on the chest. An example of a communist order of merit was the one-class Order of Lenin of the Soviet Union (1930). Unlike Western orders, however, communist orders could be awarded more than once to an individual. After the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in the 1990s, most Eastern European countries reverted to the Western-style orders originally established before
93-685: A diplomatic tool, upon foreigners. In total, 133 states even regulate the use of Orders in their constitutions. Only Switzerland, Micronesia, Libya, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and the Seychelles do not seem to confer official civil orders of merit. By the time of the Renaissance , most European monarchs had either acquired an existing order of chivalry, or created new ones of their own, to reward loyal civilian and especially military officials. Such orders remained out of reach to
124-437: A military unit created under special circumstances (see task force ), a handcrafted network protocol (e.g., ad hoc network ), a temporary collaboration among geographically-linked franchise locations (of a given national brand) to issue advertising coupons, or a purpose-specific equation in mathematics or science. Ad hoc can also function as an adjective describing temporary, provisional, or improvised methods to deal with
155-481: A particular country, regardless of status, sex, race or creed; there may be a minimum age for eligibility. Nominations are made either by private citizens or by government officials, depending on the country. An order may be revoked if the holder is convicted of a crime or renounces citizenship . Some people nominated for an award refuse it. Ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally ' for this ' . In English , it typically signifies
186-492: A particular problem, the tendency of which has given rise to the noun adhocism . This concept highlights the flexibility and adaptability often required in problem-solving across various domains. In everyday language, "ad hoc" is sometimes used informally to describe improvised or makeshift solutions, emphasizing their temporary nature and specific applicability to immediate circumstances. Style guides disagree on whether Latin phrases like ad hoc should be italicized. The trend
217-435: A result, the modern distinction between orders and decorations or insignia has become somewhat blurred. While some orders today retain the original notion of being an association or society of individuals, others make no distinction, and an "order" may even be the name of a decoration. Most historic chivalric orders imply a membership in a group, typically a confraternity . In a few exclusive European orders, membership
248-404: A solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances (compare with a priori ). Common examples include ad hoc committees and commissions created at the national or international level for a specific task, and the term is often used to describe arbitration (ad hoc arbitration). In other fields, the term could refer to
279-710: Is not to use italics. For example, The Chicago Manual of Style recommends that familiar Latin phrases that are listed in the Webster's Dictionary , including "ad hoc", not be italicized. In science and philosophy , ad hoc means the addition of extraneous hypotheses to a theory to save it from being falsified . Ad hoc hypotheses compensate for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form. Scientists are often skeptical of scientific theories that rely on frequent, unsupported adjustments to sustain them. Ad hoc hypotheses are often characteristic of pseudo-scientific subjects such as homeopathy . In
310-604: Is or was also limited in number. Decorations seldom have such limitations. Orders often come in multiple classes, including knights and dames in imitation of the original chivalric orders. Modern national orders, orders of merit , and decorations, emerged from the culture of chivalric orders established in the Middle Ages , originally the military orders of the Middle Ages and the Crusades , who in turn grew out of
341-489: The Congressional Gold Medal to civilians. The Legion of Merit is the only United States decoration which may be issued in award degrees (much like an order of chivalry or certain orders of merit), but award degrees are only made to foreign nationals, typically senior military officers or government officials. Switzerland does not award any orders. Article 12 of the 1848 Swiss Constitution prohibited
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#1732791377732372-805: The Order of Australia , and New Zealand awards the Order of New Zealand and the New Zealand Order of Merit . The Order of Mapungubwe is the highest honour in South Africa , while the Orders of Luthuli , and the Baobab exist alongside other decorations. The United States awards the Medal of Honor to members of its military for acts of valour, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom and
403-567: The Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary (1764) still required that one had to have at least four generations of noble ancestors. Still today, many dynastic orders are granted by royal families to worthy individuals for service and achievements. In 1802 Napoleon created the Legion of Honour ( Légion d'honneur ), which could be awarded to any person, regardless of status, for bravery in combat or for 20 years of distinguished service. While still retaining many trappings of an order of chivalry, it
434-767: The Order of the Golden Fleece , England 's Order of the Garter , Denmark 's Order of the Elephant and Scotland 's Order of the Thistle , were created during that era. They were essentially courtly in nature, characterised by close personal relations between the orders' members and the orders' sovereign. In the contemporary era, 96% of the world's states – 196 out of a sample of 204 polities, which includes sovereignty-claiming entities like Abkhazia – were found to use Orders to bestow them upon their own citizens and, as
465-720: The American Boeing B-29 Superfortresses bombing the Japanese homeland. The first three men to win the award were Toru Shinomiya, Masao Itagaki and Matsumi Nakano—pilots flying the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien fighter known by the Allies as the "Tony". On 3 December 1944, the three men were successful in very risky aerial ramming attacks. Another pilot, Masao Itagaki , successfully rammed B-29s on two occasions to earn two Bukōshō . Unusually,
496-723: The IJA awarded the Bukōshō to at least one aviator of the Imperial Japanese Navy , for valiant action in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June 1944. Order (decoration) Modern honour systems of state orders and dynastic orders emerged from the culture of orders of chivalry of the Middle Ages , which in turn emerged from the Catholic religious orders . The word order ( Latin : ordo ), in
527-461: The IJA suggested the Bukōchōshō as an alternate decoration for living recipients who had shown the highest valor in combat, to be awarded much more quickly by division commanders in the field. Emperor Hirohito established the award on 7 December 1944, the third anniversary of the attacks on Hong Kong and Pearl Harbor , which had signaled the start of the broader Pacific War . The Bukōshō (as it
558-453: The UK and other commonwealth countries, ad hoc Royal Commissions may be set up to address specific questions as directed by parliament . In diplomacy, diplomats may be appointed by a government as special envoys , or diplomats who serve on a ad hoc basis due to the possibility that such envoys' offices may either not be retained by a future government or may only exist during the duration of
589-730: The acceptance of honors from other sovereigns unless the honorific order comes from a list of countries specified in a regulation. In 1974 the Cabinet of Sweden passed a regulation forbidding the monarch of Sweden from awarding membership in orders to Swedish citizens. The orders themselves were not abolished, but only the Royal Orders of the Seraphim and the Polar Star (both established in 1748) continued to be awarded, and only to foreign citizens and stateless individuals. In 1995
620-446: The acceptance of honours and titles by Swiss citizens. The current Constitution of 1999 has no specific prohibition, but a federal statute effectively continues the prohibition by barring holders of foreign orders from holding public office. This practice has become common across the globe (albeit other countries usually issue a general prohibition to accept foreign orders, allowing for generous exceptions). Australia, for instance, bans
651-584: The award. Eighty-nine Bukōshō were awarded during the eight months it was actively awarded. The Order of the Golden Kite had served for decades as an auspicious military award of the Japanese armed forces, and was the only Japanese order that was solely awarded to the military (the Order of the Rising Sun and the Order of the Sacred Treasure could also be awarded to civilians). However,
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#1732791377732682-424: The case referred to in this article, can be traced back to the chivalric orders , including the military orders , which in turn trace the name of their organisation back to that of the Catholic religious orders . Orders began to be created ad hoc and in a more courtly nature. Some were merely honorary and gradually the badges of these orders (i.e. the association) began to be known informally as orders . As
713-597: The general public, however, as being of noble rank or birth was usually a prerequisite to being admitted. In the 18th century, these ideas gradually changed and the orders developed from "honourable societies" to visible honours. An example of this gradual development can be seen in two orders founded by Maria Theresa of Austria . While the Military Order of Maria Theresa (1757) was open to any deserving military officer regardless of social origin, and would grant titles of nobility to those who did not already have them,
744-485: The military, ad hoc units are created during unpredictable situations, when the cooperation between different units is suddenly needed for fast action, or from remnants of previous units which have been overrun or otherwise whittled down. In national and sub-national governance, ad hoc bodies may be established to deal with specific problems not easily accommodated by the current structure of governance or to address multi-faceted issues spanning several areas of governance. In
775-560: The original Catholic religious orders. While these chivalric orders were "societies, fellowships and colleges of knights", founded by the Holy See or European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades, granting membership in such societies gradually developed into an honour that could be bestowed in recognition of service or to ensure the loyalty of a certain clientele . Some of modern Europe's highest honours, such as
806-489: The process by which Order of the Golden Kite was awarded was very lengthy: it was indeed awarded to military men who had died in service, while the remainder were normally awarded only after the end of a war, for services throughout the conflict. As the Second World War dragged on, it became apparent that there was a need to promote morale among active army units by rewarding acts of valor more readily. To this end,
837-526: The regulation was altered, allowing the monarch to bestow the two remaining active orders to members of the Swedish royal family . Finally, in 2022, the 48-year-old regulation was repealed by the Swedish Government, the orders were re-opened to Swedish citizens, and the two dormant orders ( Sword and Vasa ) were revived, with effect from 2023. Modern orders are usually open to all citizens of
868-483: The rise of communism. Today, many countries have some form of order of merit or national decorations. Both Thailand 's Order of the White Elephant and Japan 's Order of the Rising Sun are over 100 years old. In Canada and some Commonwealth Realms, the Order of Merit is the highest civilian honour. Canada has the Order of Canada and provincial orders such as the Order of Nova Scotia . Australia has
899-412: The six kanji characters in two columns "Rikugun/Bukōchōshō" (Army/Badge for Military Merit). Both classes were the same size: 50 mm (2.0 in) high and 40 mm (1.6 in) wide. The Bukōshō was allowed to be given retroactively to soldiers who had distinguished themselves as far back as 1941 or perhaps 1940. In practice, the award was given disproportionately to fighter pilots flying against
930-499: Was popularly known) was presented in two classes, called A and B, or First and Second. Loosely resembling the Iron Cross 1st Class, the Bukōshō was a pin back badge, cast in iron or steel, featuring two shields (in gilt for A-Class, bronzed for B-Class) forming a cross, with a gilt banner at the center bearing the two kanji characters "Bukō" (Military Merit). The reverse side (again in gilt for A-Class, bronzed for B-Class) bore
961-837: Was the first modern national order of merit and is still France 's highest award today. The French Legion of Honour served as the model for numerous modern orders of merit in the Western world , such as the Order of Leopold in Belgium (1832) and the Order of the British Empire in the United Kingdom (1917). Orders of merit based on the French Legion of Honour typically retain five classes in accordance with habits of chivalric orders. In communist countries , orders of merit usually come in one to three grades, with only