Order of National Heroes | |
---|---|
Awarded by President of Barbados | |
Type | National Honour |
Established | 20 April 1998 |
Criteria | At the pleasure of the president with the recommendation of the prime minister |
Status | Currently constituted |
Founder | Parliament of Barbados |
Chancellor | Sandra Mason (President of Barbados) |
Secretary | Vacant |
Classes | Member (National Hero) |
Statistics | |
First induction | 1998 |
Last induction | 2021 |
Total inductees | 11 |
Precedence | |
Next (higher) | None |
Next (lower) | Order of Freedom of Barbados |
The Order of National Heroes is the supreme honour within the national honours system of Barbados and was established by the Order of National Heroes Act 1998 by the Parliament of Barbados. [1] Members are referred to as National Heroes, and are accorded the style "The Right Excellent". The Order recognises the most prominent figures in Barbados' history. As of June 2024, Sir Garfield Sobers and Rihanna are the only two living persons conferred with the title.
The first National Heroes Day was celebrated on 28 April 1998, the centenary of the birth of Grantley Adams. [3] On the same day, Trafalgar Square was renamed National Heroes Square. [2]
Eleven people have been created National Heroes of Barbados to date, of which ten were nominated by Prime Minister Owen Arthur and formally appointed by the Governor General in 1998, in accordance with the Act. [2] [4] Of the original ten, only Sir Garfield Sobers is alive; Sarah Ann Gill was the only woman to be created a National Hero until the singer and businesswoman Rihanna was honoured in November 2021. [5]
The Barbados National Heroes Gallery, located in the Museum of Parliament, traces the lives and contributions made by the National Heroes.
In 2021, the Government started a search for new National Heroes. Citizens were encouraged to nominate people who they thought qualified for the high honour. The government of Barbados ultimately chose singer Rihanna for this honour and duly awarded her the title of National Hero on the first day of the Barbadian republic. [6]
The president, being the legal successor to the governor-general, adopted the latter's role and duties of appointing national heroes after Barbados became a republic in 2021.
Barbados is an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, situated about 100 miles (160 km) east of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Roughly triangular in shape, the island measures some 21 miles (34 km) from northwest to southeast and about 14 miles (23 km) from east to west at its widest point. The capital and largest town is Bridgetown, which is also the main seaport.
Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The City", but the most common reference is simply "Town". As of 2014, its metropolitan population stands at roughly 110,000.
Orders of Commonwealth countries.
The Right Excellent Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, NH, AO, OCC, also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a former Barbadian cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowler, an aggressive batsman and an excellent fielder, he is widely considered to be cricket's greatest ever all-rounder and one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as prime minister. In 1994, he was declared a "National Hero".
The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. It has been in power in 1954–1961, 1976–1986, 1994–2008, and 2018–present. The BLP has been the governing party of Barbados since 2018.
Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC was a Barbadian politician. He served as the inaugural premier of Barbados from 1954 to 1958 and then became the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. He was a founder of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), and he was named in 1998 as one of the National Heroes of Barbados.
Sir Hugh Worrell Springer was the organiser and first general secretary of the Barbados Workers' Union, and Barbados' fourth governor-general. He was a lawyer, politician and public servant. By an act of Parliament in 1998, Springer was named as one of the eleven National Heroes of Barbados.
The Order of the National Hero is an honour awarded by the government of Jamaica. It is a part of the Jamaican honours system that has been in place since 1969.
Dr. Hugh Gordon Hylvestra Cummins was a Barbadian politician. He served as Premier of Barbados from 17 April 1958 to 8 December 1961 and was a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).
Clement Osbourne Payne was a Trinidad-born pioneer in the Caribbean trade union movement. By an act of Parliament in 1998, Payne was named as one of the eleven National Heroes of Barbados.
Samuel Jackman Prescod became the first person of African descent to be elected to the Parliament of Barbados, in 1843. He also helped found the Liberal Party, whose following included small landowners, businessmen, and coloured clerks. The Parliament of Barbados has enacted that he should be styled as "The Right Excellent" and that his life be celebrated on National Heroes Day in Barbados.
The Barbados National Honours and Decorations system is similar to that of the United Kingdom. Likewise, it consists of three types of award – honours, decorations and medals. Appointments are made on a yearly basis on Independence Day by the president of Barbados.
Knight or Dame of St Andrew was an award within the Order of Barbados that was part of the national honours system of Barbados when the country was still a realm within the Commonwealth.
Combermere School is a school in Barbados, notable as one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, established in 1695. Its alumni include several leading cricketers, David Thompson, sixth prime minister of Barbados and other politicians, several authors and the singer Rihanna. In its first 75 years, the school "provided the Barbadian community with the vast bulk of its business leaders and civil servants" and it is "perhaps the first school anywhere to offer secondary education to black children".
The monarchy of Barbados was a system of government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign and head of state of Barbados from 1966 to 2021. Barbados shared the sovereign with the other Commonwealth realms, with the country's monarchy being separate and legally distinct. The monarch's operational and ceremonial duties were mostly delegated to her representative, the governor-general of Barbados.
National emblems of Barbados are the symbols that are used in Barbados to represent the independent nation. The emblems reflect different aspects of its cultural life and history.
The honorific prefix "The Right Excellent" is a form of address that is used in several Commonwealth Caribbean countries.
The Order of Freedom of Barbados is a national honour established by the Order of Freedom of Barbados Act 2019 by the Parliament of Barbados. As part within the overarching Order of Barbados, it ranks higher than the Order of the Republic, but is below the separate and supreme Order of National Heroes.