Order of Saint Agatha

Last updated
Order of Saint Agatha
Order of St Agatha 7.png
Insignia of a Grand Officer of St Agatha.
Type State order
CountryFlag of San Marino.svg  San Marino
Awarded forCharitable work for San Marino.
Grandmaster Captains Regent
Secretary Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Precedence
Next (higher) Order of San Marino


The Order of Saint Agatha (Italian : Ordine Equestre di Sant'Agata) is a State order established on 5 June 1923 by the Grand and General Council of the Republic of San Marino. It is named after Saint Agatha, on whose feast day 5 February, Pope Clement XII reestablished the sovereignty of the republic in 1740. [1]

Contents

The Order is awarded to foreign nationals deserving of recognition for charitable or other services to the Republic of San Marino.

Conferred by the Grand and General Council on the proposal of the Most Excellent Regency of the Republic of San Marino, the Order comprises 5 grades: Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer and Knight. [2]

The badge of the Order is a cross with curved ends enamelled white and edged in gilt. Charged on one side with a round golden shield bearing the effigy of Saint Agatha and includes the inscription Sant'Agata Prottetrice (Saint Agatha Protector), on the other side is written the motto Bene Merenti (To a well-deserving person). The insignia suspends by a ribbon with five stripes of white, crimson and yellow. [3]

The Order of San Marino is the next higher in order of precedence.

Grades

The Order is presented in five grades: [1]

  1. Grand Cross (Cavaliere Gran Croce)
  2. Grand Officer (Cavaliere Grande Ufficiale)
  3. Commander (Cavaliere Ufficiale Maggiore o Commendatore)
  4. Officer (Cavaliere Ufficiale)
  5. Knight (Cavaliere)
Order of Saint Agatha ribbon bars
SMR Order of Saint Agatha - Knight BAR.png
Knight
SMR Order of Saint Agatha - Officer BAR.png
Officer
SMR Order of Saint Agatha - Commander BAR.png
Commander
SMR Order of Saint Agatha - Grand Officer BAR.png
Grand Officer
SMR Order of Saint Agatha - Grand Cross BAR.png
Grand Cross

Recipients

St. Agatha neck decoration. Agatha-Orden Kreuz.jpg
St. Agatha neck decoration.
St. Agatha Grand Cross breast star. Agatha-Orden Stern.jpg
St. Agatha Grand Cross breast star.
St. Agatha Grand Cross insignia. Order of Saint Agatha grand cross insignias (San Marino after 1950) - Tallinn Museum of Orders.jpg
St. Agatha Grand Cross insignia.

Prominent people awarded the Order of Saint Agatha [4]

Year of awardRecipient
Flag of the Order of St. John (various).svg SMOM – Prince Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Cardinal Pietro Gasparri [5]
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Dino Grandi [6]
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Giovanni Marinelli
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Giulio Onesti [7]
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium – Baron Robert Rothschild [8]
1925Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States – Edgar Erskine Hume [9]
1932Flag of Vatican City (2023-present).svg Vatican City State – Pope Paul VI
1934Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Edward VII [10]
1934Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Edward VIII [11]
1935 British Raj Red Ensign.svg British India – Maharajah Jagatjit Singh [12]
1937Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Sir Edmund Gabriel [13]
1944Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States – Charles Poletti [14]
1946Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States – Judge Juvenal Marchisio
1948Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Giulio Andreotti
1937Flag of France.svg  France – Valery Larbaud
1956Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States – Avery Brundage [15]
1956Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Sir John Wilson
1958Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Giovanni Spadolini
1958Flag of France.svg  France – Vincent Delpuech
1958Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium – Roger Motz
1958Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium – Lucien Cooremans [16]
2002Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Dario Fo [17]
2010Flag of Monaco.svg Monaco – Prince Albert II [18]
2012Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Sophia Loren [19]
2013Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea – Ban Ki-moon [20]
2019Flag of Russia.svg  Russia – Sergey Lavrov [21]
2020Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Theresa, Baroness May of Maidenhead [22]
2020Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Jeremy Hunt [22]
2021Flag of Lebanon.svg Lebanon – Nadey Hakim [23]
2021Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Andrew Rosindell [24]
2021Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – George Holmes [25]
2022Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Lisa Cameron [26]
2022Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Norman Foster [27]
2023Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Sheryll Murray [28]
2025Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Domenico Bellantone, Consul General of Italy in the United Kingdom [29]
2025Flag of Italy.svg  Italy – Inigo Lambertini, Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom [30]
2025Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom – Dominic Johnson, Baron Johnson of Lainston [31]

Design

The Orders design is made up of a white-enamelled cross backed by a green-enamelled wreath of oak and laurel leaves. The central disc bears a painted image of Saint Agatha, the Orders namesake, surrounded by a white-enamelled ring. The ring bears the words; "SANT AGATA PROTETTRICE" (Saint Agatha Protector), while the bottom has a gold laurel wreath. The reverse of the badge shows a gold representation of the Coat of Arms of San Marino, surrounded by the Orders motto: Bene Merenti.

The ribbon of the Order is actually the colours of the flag of San Marino, used between 1465 and 1797. [32] The ribbon is made up of the three colours, with a larger field of burgundy in the center, edged with smaller bands of white and orange on both sides.


References

  1. 1 2 Hieronymussen, Paul (1967). Orders and Decorations of Europe in Color. New York: Macmillan. p. 233.
  2. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  3. ↑ "Ordine Sant'Agata". Ordini Vaticani. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Brockman, William Everett (1994). "Early American history : Hume and allied families". Internet Archive. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Edward VIII 1894-1972 (Duke of Windsor)". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "Jagatjit Singh". Panjpedia. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  13. ↑ "Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria". DNW. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  14. ↑ "Charles W. Poletti papers, 1920-1991 bulk 1923-1970". Columbia University Libraries. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "Avery Brundage Collection" (PDF). University Library, University of Illinois. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "13 ottobre 2016: un anno senza Dario Fo". RTV San Marino (in Italian). 12 October 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "Visit by Prince Albert II to San Marino". Palais Princier de Monaco. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  19. ↑ "Sophia Loren Cavaliere Grand'Ufficiale dell'Ordine Equestre di Sant'Agata. Coi Reggenti". Libertas (in Italian). 9 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "Top UN official visits San Marino at start of five-nation European tour". UN News. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  21. ↑ tass.ru
  22. 1 2 "San Marino awards the Order of Saint Agatha to two UK prominent persons". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  23. ↑ Hakim, Nadey (14 October 2021). "Cavaliere Professor Nadey Hakim receives the Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of San Marino. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  24. ↑ Rosindell, Andrew. "Cavaliere Andrew Rosindell MP receives the Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of San Marino. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  25. ↑ Holmes, George (14 October 2021). "Cavaliere Commendatore Professor George Holmes DL receives the Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of San Marino. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  26. ↑ "San Marino celebrates a new Knight of the Order of St Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  27. ↑ "Mr Norman Foster awarded Knight Grand Officer of the Equestrian Order of St Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  28. ↑ "Congratulations to the newest Knights of the Order of St Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  29. ↑ "Celebration of the new Knights of the Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  30. ↑ "Celebration of the new Knights of the Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  31. ↑ "The Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha". Consulate of the Republic of San Marino to the UK. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  32. ↑ "San Marino - Historical Flags". www.fotw.info. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
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