There are four orders of Monaco. These are:
Monaco has a number of other decorations, including:
These are awarded by the Prince of Monaco, currently Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
Rainier III was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years.
Louis II was Prince of Monaco from 26 June 1922 to 9 May 1949.
Albert I was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death in 1922. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, Albert I made reforms on political, economic and social levels, bestowing a constitution on the principality in 1911.
Princess Antoinette, Baroness of Massy was a member of the princely family of Monaco. She was the elder sister of Prince Rainier III. Her parents were Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois and her former husband, Count Pierre de Polignac.
Albert II is Prince of Monaco, reigning since 2005.
Princess Caroline Louise Marguerite of Monaco is Princess of Hanover by marriage to Prince Ernst August. As the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and Grace Kelly, she is the elder sister of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Princess Stéphanie.
The House of Grimaldi is the reigning house of the Principality of Monaco. The house was founded in 1160 by Grimaldo Canella in Genoa and became the ruling house of Monaco when Francesco Grimaldi captured Monaco in 1297.
The sovereign prince is the monarch and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. All reigning princes and princesses have taken the name of the House of Grimaldi. When Prince Rainier III died in 2005, he was Europe's longest reigning monarch. The Grimaldi family, which has ruled Monaco for eight centuries, is Europe's longest-ruling royal family.
The Monaco succession crisis of 1918 arose because France objected to the prospect of a German national inheriting the throne of the Principality of Monaco. Prince Albert I had only one legitimate child, the Hereditary Prince Louis, then heir apparent to the principality. As World War I drew to a close, Prince Louis, at the age of forty-eight, remained without legitimate issue, unmarried, and unbetrothed.
The Order of the Crown is an order established in Monaco on 20 July 1960. This decoration is awarded to people who have done something exceptional or for their exceptional conduct.
The Order of Saint Charles is a dynastic order of knighthood established in Monaco on 15 March 1858.
The Order of Grimaldi is an Order established in Monaco on 18 November 1954.
The Prince's Palace of Monaco is the official residence of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Built in 1191 as a Genoese fortress, during its long and often dramatic history it has been bombarded and besieged by many foreign powers. Since the end of the 13th century, it has been the stronghold and home of the Grimaldi family who first captured it in 1297. The Grimaldi ruled the area first as feudal lords, and from the 17th century as sovereign princes, but their power was often derived from fragile agreements with their larger and stronger neighbours.
The commemorative coins of Monaco are minted by the Monagasque Treasury since the re-valuation of the French franc in 1960 and before the introduction of the euro in 2002.
The heraldry of Monaco, a state of just two-square kilometers, is dominated by the royal heraldry of the ruling family, the House of Grimaldi. Its dynastic head, Albert II, utilises the same arms borne by his ancestors. The ruler does not regularly award titles; indeed, it has not happened at all in the last two reigns.
Bernard César Augustin Barsi was a French prelate of the Catholic Church who was the archbishop of Monaco from 2000 to 2020.
The Order of Cultural Merit is the fourth highest Order of the Principality of Monaco. The order was established by Rainier III, Prince of Monaco on 31 December 1952 by Sovereign Order 689. It is awarded to recognize those who have made a distinctive contribution to the arts, letters or science through their work or teaching in Monaco. It may also be awarded to recognize individuals in those areas who have extended the intellectual influence of the Principality, even from outside Monaco.
The Commemorative Medal of the Reign of King Leopold II was a Belgian civilian and later military and police forces medal originally established on 21 July 1905 by royal decree to commemorate the 40th year of the reign of King Leopold II.
Holy See–Monaco relations are bilateral relations between the Principality of Monaco and the Holy See. The principal Monégasque official is Ambassador Claude Giordan, who officially started at his position in November 2015. The Holy See is represented by its Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Arcari, who assumed office on May 25, 2019. The Embassy of Monaco to the Holy See is located in Rome, on Largo Spinelli. The Apostolic Nunciature to Monaco is non-residing as the nuncio currently resides in Rome.