Order of the Black Star

Ordre de l'Étoile Noire
The Grand Croix badge, ribbon and plaque
Type	Order with five degrees: Grand-Croix Commandeur avec Plaque Commandeur Officier Chevalier
Presented by	France   Benin
Status	Deprecated 3 December 1963 by the Ordre National du Mérite
Established	1 December 1889
Precedence
Next (higher)	Médaille militaire
Equivalent	Ordre national du Mérite
Next (lower)	Croix de guerre

The Order of the Black Star (Ordre de l'Étoile Noire) was an order of knighthood established on 1 December 1889 at Porto-Novo by Toffa, future king of Dahomey (today the Republic of Benin). Approved and recognised by the French government on 30 July 1894, after the establishment of the new statutes of 30 August 1892, according this distinction to all those who worked to develop French influence on the west coast of Africa.

Classes

The order has five classes: Grand-Croix (Grand Cross), Commandeur avec Plaque (Commander with Plaque), Commandeur (Commander), Officier (Officer), and Chevalier (Knight).

	Grand-Croix
	Commandeur avec Plaque
	Commandeur
	Officier
	Chevalier

The order was deprecated by decree on 3 December 1963, and superseded by the Ordre National du Mérite. Extant members of the order are permitted to wear their original decorations.

Recipients

• Grand Crosses
  • Amha Selassie
  • Hamengkubuwono VIII
  • Edgard de Larminat
  • Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
  • Charles Debbas
• Commanders with Plaque
  • Michel Arnaud
  • Pedro Correia de Barros
  • Gustaf Bonde (1911–1977)
  • Smedley Butler
  • Jacob Emil van Hoogstraten
  • Harry J. Malony
  • Jacques Massu
  • Ernest Dichmann Peek
  • Bengt Rabaeus
  • Howard Robertson (architect)
  • Sisavang Vong
• Commanders
  • Ewart Culpin
  • William H. Hay
  • John H. Hughes (general)
  • Palden Thondup Namgyal
  • Pakubuwono X
  • Wilhelm Winther
  • Arthur Young (police officer)
  • Smedley Butler
  • John H. Sherburne ^[1]
  • Edward Vollrath ^{[2] [3]}
• Officers
  • John Thomas Kennedy
• Knights
  • Jacques Chirac
  • Philip Sassoon
  • George A. White
• Unknown Class
  • Willy Coppens
  • John F. Curry
  • Ernest J. Dawley
  • Pierre Pouyade
  • Michael Scott (golfer)
  • Emmet Harris ^[4]

References

1. "General Sherburne Receives Decoration," Boston Post, April 9, 1920, p. 22.
2. "Gen. Vollrath Gets French Honor". Bucyrus Telegraph. Bucyrus, OH. March 15, 1920. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals In Khaki. Raleigh, NC: Pentland Press. pp. 368–369. ISBN   978-1-5719-7088-6 – via Google Books.
4. 2nd Lieutenant US Infantry (New York) d. 13 August 1919. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774 - 1985; Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers, 1917 - 1922 File Unit: Hanf - Harrisburg entry 1481 and 1482

• Marc Champenois (9 August 2008). "Ordre de l'Étoile noire". Les décorations Francaises (in French). Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-06.