Type Order Status Constituted | Royal house House of Tupou | |
Awarded for Personal services to the sovereign Grades Knight Grand Cross with Collar (KGCCQS)Knight/Dame Grand Cross (K/D-GCQS)Knight/Dame Commander (K/D-CQS)Member (MQS) | ||
The Most Illustrious Order of Queen Salote Tupou III is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of Tonga.
Contents
History
The Order was established on 28 June 2008 by His Late Majesty King George Tupou V to commemorate the grand figure of his grandmother, Queen Sālote Tupou III, who, during the nearly fifty years of her government (5 April 1918 – 16 December 1965), had guided the state of Tonga to a substantial economical and social evolution.
The Order has been created as the principal civil reward for meritorious personal services to the sovereign. Above all, it is awarded as a Family Order for Tongan & foreign Royal Families.
Classes
The Order consists of four classes:
Insignia
The ribbon for the two upper classes is a 102mm sky-blue-ultramarine Sash (Ladies Sash approx. 74mm)
Knight Grand Cross
The Star is an 8-pointed silver, silver-gilt and enamel faceted star, with the collar badge superimposed in the centre (minus the crown).
Grand Cross
The Star is an 8-pointed silver and enamel star, the collar badge is placed overall in the centre, the dove and the fleurs-de-lis are silver.
Commander
The necklet badge is similar to the collar-badge except, that the central medallion is silver-gilt, the riband is dark-blue with the legend in gold capital letters, all suspended from a gold Tongan crown.
The necklet ribbon is sky-blue-ultramarine and approx. 41mm .
Member
The breast badge is, as the Commander’s class, in silver and enamel (above, except smaller and the suspended crown is silver).
The breast ribbon is approximately 38 mm (as above).