The National Order of the Southern Cross () is a Brazilian order of chivalry and Brazil's main decoration of honour awarded exclusively to foreign nationals.
Founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822 and reinstated in its current form by president Getúlio Vargas in 1932,White, William. Notes and queries, Volume 78. London: 1888, p. 173. its name derives from the constellation of the Southern Cross, visible from the Southern Hemisphere and in Brazil in particular.
History Emperor Pedro I of Brazil commissioned the establishment of the Imperial Order of the Cross (Portuguese: Ordem Imperial do Cruzeiro) on the day of his coronation, 1 December 1822. On the same date, the first knights of the order were appointed, to commemorate the crowning of the Empire's first monarch; it was the first Brazilian Order.
After the fall of the monarchy, Brazil's first republican Constitution, enacted on 24 February 1891, abolished all titles of nobility and all Imperial Orders and decorations. The Order was later re-established by the government of Getúlio Vargas on December 5, 1932, as the National Order of the Southern Cross.
During the Old Republic period (from the Proclamation of the Republic until the Revolution of 1930), National Orders did not exist and the Brazilian State bestowed only military medals.Even the short-lived republican Ordem de Colombo (Order of Columbus) that had been established by the Provisional Government of the Republic as a replacement to the Imperial Orders, was abolished when Congress promulgated Brazil's first republican Constitution on 24 February 1891, declaring all Orders abolished and stating that the Republic would maintain no Orders. Only after the 1891 Constitution had ceased to operate due to the 1930 Revolution was a republican honours system created, beginning with the recreation of the Order of the Southern Cross in 1932. Restored in 1932, the Order of the Southern Cross was the first Order to be created in the re-established, republican honours system. It is considered the senior Brazilian National Order.
Just as the Emperor of Brazil was ex officio the Grand Master of the Imperial Order, the Presidents of Brazil is ex officio the Grand Master of the successor National Order. Accordingly, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the Order's current Grand Master. Criteria Unlike the Imperial Order, which was awarded to Brazilians and foreigners alike, the republican National Order is awarded to foreigners only. When the Order was re-established by presidential decree on January 13, 1932, it was restricted to foreigners only, with the stipulation that all awards of the Order constitute an act of foreign relations on the part of the Brazilian Government.
Brazilians were excluded deliberately. In the Old Republic, the State regarded Orders and decorations as contrary to the principles of republicanism, and thus maintained no honours system; the creation of an Order that would admit Brazilians to its ranks was a step too far. However, the Brazilian State also resented the lack of a decoration with which to honour foreign dignitaries, as is sometimes almost required by diplomatic protocol. For instance, during the celebrations of the Centennial of Brazilian Independence in 1922, several foreign dignitaries, including the King and Queen of the Belgians, came to Brazil for the celebrations. The King of the Belgians bestowed Belgian honours on some Brazilians. Brazilian nationals needed authorization from the Government to accept foreign titles of honour, or else faced loss of citizenship, and under normal circumstances permission to accept appointment to an Order of Chivalry would not have been granted. While the government of Brazil relaxed its practice and authorized both accepting induction into foreign Orders and the wearing of foreign insignia, it lacked any decorations with which to reciprocate the Belgian gesture. The National Order of the Southern Cross was intended as an Order that would fill that gap. Today, accepting foreign honours and insignia without the need of prior Government approval is allowed, and several Brazilian Orders have been established to which Brazilians may be admitted, starting with the National Order of Merit (Ordem Nacional do Mérito), created in 1946. Even so, the governing statutes of the National Order of the Southern Cross have never been reformed, and it thus remains unavailable to Brazilians. Paradoxically, therefore, the Order's Grand Master — the sitting President of the Republic — is never a member of the Order he or she oversees, and the President's connection with the Order is severed once the President leaves office.The Decree that re-created the Order (Decree 22.165, signed by Vargas on 5 December 1932) does not mention the creation of a new Order, but rather the reestablishment of the former Order of the Southern Cross, which had been "created upon the advent of the political independence of Brazil". This was done to improve the prestige of the Order by linking it with the past, that is, by associating it with an Order that had been created more than a century earlier. Decree that "Reestablishes the National Order of the Southern Cross".
In 1932, the republican version of the Order had the same five grades as the old imperial version. In 1939, by a statute issued on 17 July of that year, the additional grade of the Grand Collar was created. Until the creation of the Grand Collar, awards of which are restricted to Heads of State, the Grand Cross was the Order's highest rank.
Awards of, and promotions in, the National Order of the Southern Cross are made by decree of the President of the Republic, in his capacity as the Order's Grand Master. The decree of appointment or promotion is, like all presidential decrees, published in the Federal Government's Official Journal, and, as per the Order's regulations, the appointment or promotion is also recorded in a book kept by the Order's secretary.
The Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs (currently Ambassador Mauro Vieira) serves as the Chancellor of the Order, and the diplomat who heads the ceremonial and protocol division of the Ministry serves as the Secretary to the Order. The Order also has a Council, chaired by its Chancellor, that recommends awards and promotions.
Classes Under its current regulations, the Order consists of the Grand Master and six Classes of members:Condecorações: Cruizeiro do Sul – Regulamento Ministério das Relações Exteriores. Retrieved on 2010-10-10. . RankInsignia and notesGrand Collar(Grande-Colar)The adorned "Grand Collar", a chain from which the badge of the Order is suspended. The recipient is also allowed to combine the wearing of the Grand Collar with either of the following insignia, or with both: the "Star" of the Order (a plaque modelled after the badge of the Order, to be worn on the left breast); and the Sash of the Order, that is proper to those of Grand Cross rank (a light blue sash, to be worn on the right shoulder).
Awards of the Grand Collar are restricted to foreign Heads of State.Grand Cross(Grã-Cruz)The Sash of the Order, and the badge of the Order hangs from the bottom part of that sash (given that the sash is worn on the right shoulder, the badge hangs close to the left leg, by the waist line). The recipient further wears the "star" of the Order, displayed on the left breast. Grand Officer(Grande-Oficial)The badge of the Order around the neck suspended from a blue ribbon necklet, and the star of the Order is displayed on the left breast.Commander(Comendador)The badge of the Order around the neck, suspended from a blue ribbon necklet.Officer(Oficial)The badge of the Order on the left breast suspended from a ribbon with a rosette.Knight(Cavaleiro)The badge of the Order on the left breast suspended from a simple ribbon. Ribbon barsKnightOfficerCommanderGrand OfficerGrand CrossGrand Collar
Notable recipients 2025 – Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) 2025 – Naruhito (Emperor of Japan) 2024 – José Mujica (former President of Uruguay) 2024 – Sergio Mattarella (President of Italy) 2023 – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (President of Portugal) 2021 – Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa (King of Bahrain) 2021 – Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (Emir of Qatar) 2021 – Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi) 2021 – Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Emir of Dubai) 2021 – Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (President of the United Arab Emirates) 2021 – Iván Duque (President of Colombia) 2020 – Taro Aso (Prime Minister of Japan) 2020 – Shinzo Abe (Prime Minister of Japan) 2018 – Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel) 2017 – Okada Kōō (Spiritual leader of Sukyo Mahikari) 2017 – Horacio Cartes (President of Paraguay) 2017 – Stefan Zweig (novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer), posthumous award 2017 – Mauricio Macri (President of Argentina) 2016 – Rosen Plevneliev (President of Bulgaria)Ministério das Relações Exteriores - Decreto de 1º de Fevereiro de 2016. Published by Imprensa Nacional in Section 1 of the Diário Oficial da União on February 2, 2016. . 2015 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (President of Argentina) 2015 – Enrique Peña Nieto (President of Mexico)Ministério das Relações Exteriores - Decreto de 11 de Dezembro de 2015. Published by Imprensa Nacional in Section 1 of Diário Oficial da União of December 14, 2015. . 2014 – Julio de Vido (politician) 2013 – José Antonio Abreu (pianist) 2012 – Emmanuel Macron (later President of France) 2011 – Georgi Parvanov (President of Bulgaria)Presidente Dilma é condecorada com a mais alta ordem da Bulgária GazetaOnline. Retrieved on 2011-10-05. . 2011 – María Ángela Holguín (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia) 2010 – Bashar al-Assad (President of Syria) 2010 – Michel Suleiman (President of Lebanon) 2009 – Nicolas Sarkozy (President of France) 2009 – Arturo Valenzuela (Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs)United States Department of State 2007 – Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Prime Minister of Denmark) 2007 – Carl XVI Gustaf (King of Sweden) 2007 – Silvia Sommerlath (Queen consort of Sweden) 2007 – Henri (Grand Duke of Luxembourg)DECRETO DE 3 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2007 - website JusBrasil 2007 – Maria Teresa (Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg) 2006 – Jacques Diouf (diplomat) 2004 – James Sherwood (businessman) 2004 – Mohammed VI (King of Morocco) 2003 – Beatrix (Queen of the Netherlands) 2003 – Harald V (King of Norway) 2003 – Sonja Haraldsen (Queen consort of Norway) 2003 – Yasuo Tanaka (governor of Nagano) 2003 – Ann Hartness (scholar) 2002 – Ismael Crespo (Professor at the University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain) 2002 – Aleksander Kwaśniewski (President of Poland) 1999 – Alberto Fujimori (President of Peru) 1999 – Albert Fishlow (professor) 1999 – Giovanni Sartori (political scientist) 1998 – Ricardo Salgado (banker) 1998 – Manuel Fraga (president of Galicia) 1996 – Jacques Chirac (President of France) 1996 – António Guterres (Prime Minister of Portugal) 1996 – Stephan Schmidheiny (entrepreneur) 1995 – Ronald Venetiaan (President of Suriname) 1991 – Sofía of Spain (Queen consort of Spain) 1991 – Juan Carlos I (King of Spain) 1990 – Václav Havel (President of Czechoslovakia) 1990 – Daisaku Ikeda (president of the Soka Gakkai) 1987 – Mário Soares (President of Portugal) 1984 – Kiyoshi Sumiya (Ambassador of Japan) 1978 – Charles, Prince of Wales (later Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms) 1976 – Masayoshi Ōhira (Finance Minister of Japan) 1976 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (President of France) 1975 – Nicolae Ceausescu (President of Romania) 1974 – Margrethe II (Queen of Denmark) 1972 – Hugo Banzer (President of Bolivia) 1972 – Alexander II Karađorđević (Crown Prince of Yugoslavia) 1969 – Neil Armstrong (astronaut) 1969 – Michael Collins (astronaut)