Classes
The Order was awarded in nine classes until 2003, when the Grand Cordon with Paulownia Flowers was made a separate order, and the lowest two classes were abolished. Since then, it has been awarded in seven classes. Conventionally, a diploma is prepared to accompany the insignia of the order, and in some rare instances, the personal signature of the emperor will have been added. As an illustration of the wording of the text, a translation of a representative 1929 diploma says:
By the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the throne occupied by the same dynasty from time immemorial,We confer the Second Class of the Imperial Order of Meiji upon Henry Waters Taft, a citizen of the United States of America and a director of the Japan Society of New York, and invest him with the insignia of the same class of the Order of the Double Rays of the Rising Sun, in expression of the good will which we entertain towards him.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hand and caused the Grand Seal of the Empire to be affixed at the Imperial Palace, Tokio, this thirteenth day of the fifth month of the fourth year of Shōwa, corresponding to the 2,589th year from the accession to the throne of Emperor Jimmu."The star for the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Grand Cordon is the same as the badge, but without the paulownia leaves suspension. It is worn on the left chest.
The star for the First and Second Classes is an eight-pointed silver badge, bearing a central emblem identical to the 4th Class badge without the paulownia leaves suspension. It is worn on the left chest for the 1st Class, on the right chest for the 2nd Class.
The badge for the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers, Grand Cordon is a gilt cross with white enameled rays, bearing a central emblem of a red enameled sun disc surrounded by red rays, and with three paulownia blossoms between each arm of the cross. It is suspended from three enameled paulownia leaves on a sash in red with white border stripes, and is worn on the right shoulder.
The badge for the First to Sixth Classes is an eight-pointed badge, in gilt (1st-4th Classes), gilt and silver (5th Class), or silver (6th Class), with white enamelled rays, bearing a central red enamelled sun disc. It is suspended from three enamelled paulownia leaves (not chrysanthemum as the Decoration Bureau page claims) on a ribbon in white with red border stripes, worn as a sash on the right shoulder for the 1st Class, as a necklet for the 2nd and 3rd Classes, on the left chest for the 4th to 6th Classes (with a rosette for the 4th Class).
The badge for the Seventh and Eighth Classes consisted of a silver medal in the shape of three paulownia leaves, enamelled for the 7th Class and plain for the 8th Class. Both were suspended on a ribbon, again in white with red border stripes, and worn on the left chest. Both classes of the order were abolished in 2003.
Read more about this topic: Order Of The Rising Sun
Famous quotes containing the word classes:
“Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they were so often patsies for the ruling classes in nineteenth-century France and England, or twentieth-century Russia and America.”
—Lillian Hellman (1907–1984)
“The most powerful lessons about ethics and morality do not come from school discussions or classes in character building. They come from family life where people treat one another with respect, consideration, and love.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“There are three classes into which all the women past seventy that ever I knew were to be divided: 1. That dear old soul; 2. That old woman; 3. That old witch.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)