The Order of Trujillo was the second principal order

Order (decoration)

An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...

 of the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

, after the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella

Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella

The Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella is the principal order of the Dominican Republic. It was established on 24 February 1931 as the Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit and renamed on 9 September 1954...

. It was established on 13 June 1938 in honour of the then-President Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo. The Head of State conferred the order both to civilians and members of the military for distinguished services, regardless of Dominican Republic citizenship.

Division of the Order

The order was divided in seven grades:

• Collar was awarded exclusive to the President Trujillo
• Grand Cross with Gold Breast Star was awarded to the current president, foreign chiefs of state and Hereditary Princes
• Grand Cross with Silver Breast Star was awarded to former presidents, vice presidents or former vice presidents, members of legislatures and supreme court, ministres of state, ambassadors and the metropolitan archbishop
• Grand Officer was awarded to service chiefs and high officials of government and church, the Dean of the University, Chief of the Army, Chief of the Navy
• Commander was awarded to governors of provinces, directors general of instruction, directors of academies, dean of universities, authors and others of similar importance
• Officer was awarded to professors and heads of schools, officers of the rank of colonel and above and civilians of equal importance
• Knight was award to others