Royal house House of Pahlavi | ||
 | ||
Type Chivalric and Dynastic Order Ribbon Light Blue with a Black stripe in the middle and either side. Sovereign Crown Prince Reza of Iran Grades Knight Grand Officer
Knight Officer
Knight Established 1856 - 1979 (National Order)
1979 - Present (House Order) | ||
The Order of Zolfaghar (Persian: نشان ذوالفقار - Neshan-e-Zolfaghar) was the second oldest and the highest honour of the Empire of Iran.
The Order was established in 1856 as: The Decoration of the Commander of the Faithful by Emperor Naser al-Din Shah, until 1925 where it was renamed as: The Order of Zolfaghar by Emperor Reza Shah I.
As the Order was the highest within the "honours system", the Order was limited to the Sovereign and Individuals of the greatest acts of Patriotism to Iran until 1979 where it was abolished by the Islamic Republic of Iran which erased all symbols within culture and society from monarchy.
History
the order was a military order of Imperial Persia and Iran named after Zulfiqar, "Spine-cleaver", the famous sword of the Caliph Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. Founded as the "Portrait of the Commander of Faithful" by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar in 1856 to commemorate the recapture of Herat, Reza Shah, the penultimate Shah of Iran, renamed it the "Order of Zolfaghar" in 1925 and made it an exclusively military order. The original order consisted of a 5 pointed star with an enameled portrait of Imam Ali in the center and two Zolfaghar swards crossed behind the star among multiple rays. The order consisted of 3 classes: The first class consisted of a sash along with the badge; the second class consisted of a neck badge and collar and the third class was a medal.