Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Medals of the commandeur, officier and chevalier
Awarded by French Minister of Culture
Type	Order of Merit with 3 degrees: Commandeur (commander) Officier (officer) Chevalier (knight)
Awarded for	"Significant contribution to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance."
Status	Active
Statistics
Established	2 May 1957
Precedence
Next (higher)	Ordre du Mérite Maritime
Next (lower)	Médaille des Évadés
Commandeur Officier Chevalier Ribbon bars of the order

The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and its supplementary status to the Ordre national du Mérite was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.

Its origin is attributed to the Order of Saint-Michel (established 1 August 1469) as acknowledged by French government sources.^[1][2][3]

Background

French government guidelines stipulate that citizens of France must be at least thirty years old, respect French civil law, and must have, "significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance" to be considered for award.

Membership is not, however, limited to French nationals; recipients include numerous foreign luminaries.

Foreign recipients are admitted into the Order, "without condition of age".

The Order has three grades:

• Commandeur (Commander) — medallion worn on necklet; up to twenty recipients a year.
• Officier (Officer) — medallion worn on ribbon with rosette on left breast; up to sixty recipients a year.
• Chevalier (Knight) — medallion worn on ribbon on left breast; up to 200 recipients a year.

The médaille of the Order is an eight-point, green-enameled asterisk, in gilt for Commanders and Officers and in silver for Knights; the obverse central disc has the letters "A" and "L" on a white enamelled background, surrounded by a golden ring emblazoned with the phrase "République Française". The reverse central disc features the head of Marianne on a golden background, surrounded by a golden ring bearing the words "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres". The Commander's badge is topped by a gilt twisted ring.

The ribbon of the Order is green with four white stripes.

Members of the order

Ray Bradbury wearing the Commander's badge in 2009

Majida El Roumi wearing the Officers badge during her honoring ceremony in Beirut, in February, 2013

Donald Sutherland wearing the Commander's lapel pin

According to the statutes of the Order, French citizens must wait a minimum of 5 years before they are eligible to be upgraded from Chevalier to Officier, or Officier to Commandeur, and must have displayed additional meritorious deeds than just those which originally made them a Chevalier. However, in the statutes there is a clause saying "Les Officiers et les Commandeurs de la Légion d'honneur peuvent être directement promus à un grade équivalent dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres". (Translation: "The officers and commanders of the Legion of Honour can be promoted directly to an equivalent grade in the Order of Arts and Letters".) This means that were someone to be made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters one year, then made an officer of the Legion of Honour the next year, that person can be upgraded to Officier of the Order of Arts and Letters and bypass the five-year rule.

See also

• Ribbons of the French military and civil awards
• Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec, a Quebec order based in part on the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

References

• "Nominations dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres". Ministère de la culture, France. 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2009. 

Orders, decorations and medals of France
Orders	National Legion of Honour Order of Liberation National Order of Merit Ministerial Ordre des Palmes Académiques Order of Agricultural Merit Ordre du Mérite Maritime Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Civilian decorations	Honour medal for courage and devotion Médaille d'honneur de l'Aéronautique Honour medal of Foreign Affairs Médaille d'honneur agricole Honour medal of railroads Regional, departmental and municipal honour medal Honour medal of customs Médaille d'honneur des Eaux et Forêts Médaille d'honneur de l'Enseignement du 1er degré Médaille d'honneur Pénitentiaire Honour medal for civilian personnel of the defense ministry Honour medal of the National Police Honour medal for firefighters Médaille d'honneur de Sociétés musicales et Chorales Médaille d'honneur de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse Honour medal for work Médaille d'honneur des Travaux publics Insignia for wounded civilians Medal of the French Family Honour medal for youth, sports and associative engagements Médaille des Mines Médaille du Tourisme Ordre de Tahiti Nui
Military decorations	Military Medal 1914–1918 War Cross 1939–1945 War Cross War Cross for foreign operational theaters Cross for Military Valour Médaille de la Gendarmerie nationale Resistance Medal Escapees' Medal Volunteer combatant's cross 1914–1918 Volunteer combatant's cross* Cross of the resistance volunteer combatant Combatant's Cross Aeronautical Medal Overseas Medal National Defence Medal Medal for voluntary military service Medal of the Nation's Recognition Medal for the War Wounded
Other	Médaille d'honneur du service de santé des armées
Commemorative medals	19th century Saint Helena Medal Commemorative medal of the 1859 Italian Campaign Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition Commemorative medal of the Mexico Expedition Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal Dahomey Expedition commemorative medal 1892 Madagascar commemorative medal Colonial Medal 1900–1914 1901 China expedition commemorative medal Morocco commemorative medal (1909) First World War 1914–1918 1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal Dardanelles campaign medal Orient campaign medal 1914–1918 Commemorative war medal Medal of French Gratitude Médaille de la Fidélité Française Médaille des victimes de l'invasion Medal for civilian prisoners, hostages and prisoners of the 1914-1918 Great War Interwar Period 1918–1939 Syria-Cilicia commemorative medal Second World War 1939–1945 Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France 1943-1944 Italian Campaign medal Medal for deportation and internment for acts of resistance Deportation and political internment medal Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1939–1945 Medal of a liberated France Defaulter's medal Since 1945 United Nations operations in Korea commemorative medal Indochina Campaign commemorative medal Middle East operations commemorative medal (1956) Médaille commémorative des opérations de sécurité et de maintien de l'ordre en Afrique du Nord North Africa medal United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon medal French commemorative medal Medal for the Military Protection of the Territory
Defunct orders	Ministry orders Ordre du Mérite combattant Ordre du Mérite militaire Ordre du Mérite civil Ordre du Mérite social Ordre du Mérite du Travail Ordre du Mérite touristique Ordre de l'Économie nationale Ordre du Mérite commercial et industriel Ordre du Mérite artisanal Ordre de la Santé publique Ordre du Mérite postal Ordre du Mérite sportif Colonial orders Ordre du Mérite indochinois Ordre du Mérite saharien Ordre de l'Étoile Noire Ordre de l'Étoile d'Anjouan Ordre du Nichan el Anouar Ordre impérial du Dragon d'Annam Ordre royal du Cambodge
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