Italy – Order of the Star of Italy (knight)
kr 2,000.00
In stock
Description
The Order was instituted on 18 January 1914 to recognize meritorious conduct in the Italian colonies and was awarded particularly to members of the indigenous populations, as well as to Italians. Italy had sought colonies in Eritrea and Somalia in the 1880s and 1890s and invaded Tripoli on 3 October 1911.
Ottoman Turkey ceded Libya to Italy in 1912 but armed resistance to Italian rule persisted for many years. The Order was limited to the creation of a maximum of 150 knights (and 50 officers, 20 commanders, 7 grand officers and 4 grand cordons) per year and the award of the order was often to members of the indigenous population. As a result of these factors, the Order is relatively rare.
The centre medallion bearing the imposed crowned cipher of King Vittorio Emanuele III within a green enamel ring dated in gilt numerals “1911”, the reverse with a circular central red enamel medallion inscribed in gilt letters “AL MERITO COLONIALE”(for Colonial Merit), on original ribbon.
