Order of Brilliant Jade

The Order of Brilliant Jade is a civilian order of the Republic of China that can be worn only by the head of a nation. According to regulations, the order can only be presented by the president of the country or an emissary expressly dispatched to friendly nations for the conferment. The order was instituted on 22 December 1933.^[1] It has a star-patterned face of inlaid jade bordered with gold and pearls. In the centre there is white sun surrounded by blue sky, the national emblem.^[2] Previously, the Order of the Brilliant Jade was divided into two, namely Grand Order of Brilliant Jade (current) and Order of Brilliant Jade with nine ranks.

Order of Brilliant Jade
Order of the Brilliant Jade cordon, badge, star, medal and lapel pin
Type	Single-grade Grand Cordon
Awarded for	The President of the Republic of China and foreign heads of states
Description	The medal has a star-patterned face of inlaid jade bordered with gold and pearls. The center is the "white sun in a blue sky," the national emblem of the ROC, symbolizing a tribute to the head of state internally and the strengthening of friendly ties with other countries externally.
Country	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Presented by	President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Eligibility	Civilian
Status	Active
Established	22 December 1933
First award	Lin Sen
Total	24
Ribbon bar of the Order
Precedence
Next (higher)	none
Next (lower)	Order of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen

Order of Brilliant Jade
Traditional Chinese	采玉大勳章
Simplified Chinese	采玉大勋章
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin cǎi yù dà xūnzhāng

Controversy and suggestions to rename

The Chinese official name of the order 采玉大勳章 (cǎi yù dà xūnzhāng) was claimed to be named after President Chiang Kai-shek's mother, Wáng Cǎiyù, by Democratic Progressive Party members of Legislative Yuan, and there are suggestions from the pan-green coalition to rename the order to suit Taiwanese locality as "Order of Taiwan", but this was not passed at the Legislative Yuan in April 2007, facing opposition from the Kuomintang.^[3] In April 2022, the Transitional Justice Commission reported to the Legislative Yuan that there is no documentary evidence proving the Order of Brilliant Jade related to Wáng Cǎiyù.^[4]

Notable recipients

• Pakubuwono X (1933)^{[citation needed]}
• Hans von Seeckt (1936)^{[citation needed]}
• William Henry Donald (1936)^[5]
• Edvard Beneš (1936)^[6]
• Leopold III of Belgium (1937)^[7]
• Minnie Vautrin (1938)^[8]
• Frederick Maze (1938)^[9]
• Donald Van Slyke (1939)^{[citation needed]}
• Richard Freeman Brady (1938)
• Joseph Beech (1940)^[10]
• Charles K. Edmunds (1941)^[11]
• Chiang Kai-shek (1943)^{[citation needed]}
• Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1958)^{[citation needed]}
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (1963)^[12]
• Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1971)^[13]
• Blaise Compaoré (1994)^[14]
• Ricardo Maduro (2002)^[15]
• Antonio Saca (2004)^[16]
• Bingu wa Mutharika (2005)^[17]
• Thomas Remengesau Jr. (2007)^[18]
• Álvaro Colom (2008)^[19]
• Anote Tong (2009)^[20]
• Fernando Lugo (2011)^[21]
• Juan Orlando Hernández (2016)^[22]
• Jovenel Moïse (2018)^[23]
• Mario Abdo Benítez (2018)^[24]
• Baron Waqa (2019)^[25]
• Alejandro Giammattei (2023)^[26]

See also

• Order of the Double Dragon: Imperial Chinese award for foreign recipients
• Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain: Earlier ROC award