The Order of the Liberator General San Martín () is the highest decoration in Argentina. It is awarded to foreign politicians or military, deemed worthy of the highest recognition from Argentina. It is granted by the sitting President of Argentina.

History It owes its name to General José de San Martín, called Father of the Nation and Liberator. The original design was made by the Argentine engineer and sculptor Ángel Eusebio Ibarra García. It was created by Decree No. 5,000 of 17 August 1943; amended by Law No. 13. 202 of 21 May 1948; which in turn was repealed by Decree Law No. 16.628 of 17 December 1957, which re-creates the Order. The modifications introduced were only in the form. The regulations still in force were approved by Decree No. 16,643 of 18 December 1967.

Grades The Order is issued in a number of grades. These are: Collar () Grand Cross () Grand Officer () Commander () Officer () Knight ()

Notable recipients

+Date RecipientGrade 8 June 1947 – Caudillo Francisco Franco (1936–1975)Collar16 August 1947 – President Eurico Gaspar Dutra (1946–1951)Collar20 December 1948 – Former president Arturo Alessandri (1920–1925; 1932-1938)Grand Cross1950 – President Manuel Arturo Odría (1948–1950; 1950-1956)Collar12 May 1950 – General Dwight Eisenhower (1953–1961)Grand Cross4 April 1951 – Prince Bernhard (1948–1980)Grand Cross18 July 1952 – First Lady Eva Duarte de Perón (1946–1952)Extraordinary19 February 1953 – President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (1927–1931; 1952–1958)Collar15 August 1954 – President Alfredo Stroessner (1954–1989)Collar2 February 1959 – Prime Minister Antonio Segni (1955–1957; 1959–1960)Grand Cross1960 – King Baudouin (1951–1993)Collar8 May 1960 – President Charles De Gaulle (1959–1969)CollarJune 1960 – Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1949–1963)Grand Cross1 July 1960 – Queen Juliana (1948–1980)Collar4 July 1960 – Queen Elizabeth II (1952–2022)CollarOctober 1960 – President Chiang Kai-shek (1950–1975)Collar9 April 1961 – President Giovanni Gronchi (1955–1962)Collar8 July 1961 – President Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1952–1956; 1960–1964; 1985–1989)Collar8 December 1961 – King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1946–2016)PhotoCollar – Queen Sirikit (1950–2016)Grand Cross – Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat (1959–1963)Grand Cross22 March 1962 – Prince Philip (1952–2021)Grand Cross10 May 1965 – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979)Collar – Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi (1961–1979)Grand Cross15 September 1965 – President Giuseppe Saragat (1964–1971)Collar29 October 1965 – President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970)Collar1966 – King Norodom Sihanouk (1941–1970, 1993-2004)Collar25 March 1966 – Princess Margrethe (1940–1972; Queen: 1972–2024)Grand Cross9 September 1966 – Prime Minister Satō Eisaku (1964–1972)Grand Cross18 September 1967 – King Olav V (1957–1991)Collar1970 Ethiopia – Emperor Haile Selassie (1930–1974)Collar18 April 1971 – President José Figueres Ferrer (1948–1949; 1953–1958; 1970–1974)Collar13 October 1971 – President Juan Velasco Alvaro (1968–1975)Collar1972 – President Park Chung-hee (1963-1979)Collar – President Suharto (1968-1998)Collar – First Lady Siti Hartinah (1968-1998)Grand Cross16 June 1973 – President Luis Carrero Blanco (1973)Grand Cross5 March 1974 – Gran Maestre P-2 Licio Gelli (1973)Grand Cross – President Nicolae Ceausescu (1967–1989)Collar – First Lady Elena Ceausescu (1974–1989)Grand Cross1976 – President Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) / Revoked by President Alberto Fernández.Grand Cross4 March 1978 – President Francisco Morales Bermúdez (1975–1980)Collar1 December 1978 – King Juan Carlos I (1975–2014)Collar – Queen Sofía (1975–2014)Grand Cross8 October 1979 – Emperor Hirohito (1926–1989)Collar7 June 1985 – President Fernando Belaúnde Terry (1963–1968; 1980–1985)Collar17 July 1986 – President Corazon Aquino (1986–1992)Collar19 July 1986 – King Fahd (1982–2005)Collar28 July 1986 – President José Sarney (1985–1990)Collar5 July 1990 – President Fernando Collor de Mello (1990–1992)Collar27 August 1990 – President Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994)Collar1991 – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (1981–2003, 2018-2020)Grand Cross1992 – King Hassan II (1961–1999)Collar – King Hussein (1952–1999)Collar11 May 1992 – President Hosni Moubarak (1981–2011)Collar27 March 1994 – Infanta Elena (1963–1995)Grand Cross – Infanta Cristina (1965–1997)Grand Cross6 May 1994 – Prince Philippe (1993–2013)Grand Cross1 December 1994 – President Franjo Tuđman (1990–1999)Collar21 February 1995 – President Lech Wałęsa (1990–1995)Collar24 February 1995 – President Nelson Mandela (1994–1999)Collar31 May 1995 – President Thomas Klestil (1992–2004)Collar14 March 1996 – President Algirdas Brazauskas (1992–1998)Collar8 April 1996 – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002)Collar16 July 1996 – President Nouhak Phoumsavanh (1992–1998)Collar27 September 1996 – President Václav Havel (1993–2003)Collar12 November 1996 – President Ernesto Zedillo (1994–2000)Collar3 March 1997 – President Martti Ahtisaari (1994–2000)Collar7 April 1997 – President Árpád Göncz (1990–2000)Collar9 April 1997 – Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (1996–1997)ประกาศสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานพระบรมราชานุญาตให้ประดับเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ต่างประเทศ เล่ม 114 ตอนที่ 7 ข ราชกิจจานุเบกษา 9 เมษายน 2540Grand Cross21 April 1997 – President José María Aznar (1996–2004)Grand Cross28 April 1997 – President René Préval (1996–2001; 2006-2011)Collar26 May 1998 – King Carl XVI Gustav (1973–incumbent)Collar – Queen Silvia (1976–incumbent)Grand Cross – Princess Lilian (1976–2013)Grand Cross16 July 1998 United Nations – Secretary-General Kofi Annan (1997–2006)Grand Cross10 August 1998 – President Arnoldo Alemán (1997–2002)Collar29 September 1998 – Prince Akishino (1990–Incumbent)Grand Cross2 December 1998 – Emperor Akihito (1989–2019)Collar – Empress Michiko (1989–2019)Grand Cross20 September 1999 – President Joseph Estrada (1998–2001)Collar15 May 2000 – President Luis González Macchi (1999–2003)Collar18 May 2000 – President Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006)Collar25 September 2000 – Prince Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud (1982–2005)Grand Cross12 October 2000 – President Andrés Pastrana Arango (1998–2002)Collar14 March 2001 – President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1999–2006)Collar21 August 2001 – President Hipólito Mejía (2000–2004)Collar15 November 2001 – President Jorge Sampaio (1996–2006)Collar7 April 2003 Sovereign Order of Malta – Prince and Grand Master Fra' Andrew Bertie (1988–2008)Grand Cross29 April 2003 – President Jorge Batlle (2000–2005)Collar7 December 2004 – King Mohammed VI (1999–incumbent)Collar21 April 2008 – President Rafael Correa (2007–2017)Collar24 November 2008 – President Felipe Calderón (2006–2012)Collar9 February 2009 – Princess Letizia (2004–2014)Grand Cross16 January 2011 – Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2006–2020)Collar – Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (2006–2020)Grand Cross28 November 2012 – President Ollanta Humala (2011–2016)Collar8 May 2013 – President Nicolás Maduro (2013–Incumbent) / Revoked by President Mauricio Macri.Collar2016 – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2006–2007, 2012–2020)Grand Cross25 February 2016 – President François Hollande (2012–2017)Collar29 July 2016 – President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018)Collar8 August 2016 United Nations – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2007–2016)Grand Cross9 August 2016 – Governor-General Peter Cosgrove (2014–2019)Collar22 February 2017 – King Felipe VI (2014–Incumbent)Collar27 March 2017 – King Willem-Alexander (2013–incumbent)Collar13 November 2017 – Former president Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)Grand Cross8 May 2017 – President Sergio Mattarella (2015–Incumbent)Collar6 March 2018 – King Harald V (1991–incumbent)Collar2 December 2018 – President Xi Jinping (2013–Incumbent)Collar25 January 2021 – Former president José Mujica (2010–2015)Collar

References

External links History of San Martín Articles on San Martin on newspaper Clarín Sanmartinian National Institute Foreign Relations Ministry of Argentina