Order of the Welwitschia

Order of the Welwitschia
Awarded by President of Namibia
Type	Order
Established	17 March 1995
Status	Currently awarded
Grand Master	President of Namibia
Grades	Grand Collar Grand Commander
Precedence
Next (higher)	None
Next (lower)	Order of the Sun
Ribbon bar of the order

The Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis is a state decoration of the Republic of Namibia established in 1995. It is the highest-civilian honour of Namibia.

The order was established on 17 March 1995. It is named after the Welwitschia mirabilis plant , which is endemic to the Namib Desert. The order is awarded to foreign heads of state, it can also be awarded posthumously. The Grand Master of the order is the incumbent President of Namibia.

Classes

The Order of Welwitschia has two Classes:

• Grand Collar
• Grand Commander

Insignia

The badge of the order has the shape of a golden sun composed of rays. In the middle is a round medallion. The badge is attached to the ribbon or chain with a simple ring.

The order star resembles the order badge, but is larger.

The chain is made of gold and consists of 14 links, connected by a double chain. The central element is the colorful enameled coat of arms of Namibia. The other links are in the form of a sun, with a colorful enameled medallion in the middle.

The silk moiré ribbon consists of three stripes in yellow, green, and yellow, separated by narrow white stripes.

Notable recipients

Grand Collar

• Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia (1995)
• Hage Geingob, President of Namibia (2015)
• Nangolo Mbumba, President of Namibia (2024) ^[1]

Grand Commander

• Quett Masire, President of Botswana (1995)
• Kim Jong Il, Supreme Leader of North Korea (2002) ^[2]
• Fidel Castro, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (2008) ^[3]
• Agostinho Neto, President of Angola (2010) ^[4]
• Julius Nyerere, President of Tanzania (2010) ^[5]
• Goodluck Jonathan, President of Nigeria (2014) ^[6]
• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia (2018)
• João Lourenço, President of Angola (2018) ^[7]
• Alpha Condé, President of Guinea (2019) ^[8]
• Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya (2019) ^[9]
• Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of Cuba (2023) ^[10]
• Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India (2025) ^[11]

References

1. "President Nangolo Mbumba at the conferment of The Most Ancient Order of Welwitschia Mirabilis State House, Windhoek". The Namibian. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
2. "Namibian supreme order conferred on Kim Jong Il". KCNA. 29 August 2002. Archived from the original on 2019-11-24.
3. "Namibia granted the Order of Welwitschia to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz". Cuba Headlines. Cuba Headlines. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
4. "Agostinho Neto condecorado na Namíbia". Jornal de Angola. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
5. grxnet.com. "Jornal de Angola - Notícias - Presidente foi distinguido com a mais alta condecoração da Namíbia". Jornal de Angola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-12-27.
6. @renoomokri (22 March 2014). "President Jonathan being decorated as Grand Commander of Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis, 1st Class" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. @hagegeingob (4 May 2018). "On the 40th anniversary of Cassinga Day, 4 May 2018 Namibia awards to H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, The Orde…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
8. "Highest Namibian honour bestowed on President Condé". Informanté. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
9. "State House Kenya on Twitter". Archived from the original on 2023-10-05. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
10. "President of Namibia receives his Cuban counterpart". Cubaminrex. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
11. "Namibia Honours PM Modi With Top Civilian Award: All About The Welwitschia Mirabilis Award". News18. 9 July 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.

External links

• World Awards
• Republic of Namibia: Order of the Most Ancient Welwitchia Mirabilis Archived 2017-12-27 at the Wayback Machine