Order of Pope Pius IX

founded the first Pian Order in 1560. The Order was founded on 17 June 1847, by Pope Pius IX with the decree Romanis Pontificibus, placing it as the continuation of the ancient order established by Pope Pius IV with the bull Pii patris amplissimi on March 1559. the new class of Commander with star (correspondent to the class of Grand Officer) was created. The Pian Order was then reformed again by Pope Pius XII, with a Bull dated 11 November 1939, which suppressed the privilege of nobility. From the historical point of view, the Knighthood of the Grand Cross of the Pian Order has held the role that was of the Militia Aurata before the reform of Gregory XVI, namely that of title of rank and ennobling of the Holy See from the sixteenth century to 1841. ==Order of Classes==

The Order comprises five classes: • Knight with the Collar (GCCPO): who wear a gold chain around their shoulders which is decorated with the papal tiara and two doves, and on the breast a large star. It is the highest active papal decoration, and is reserved for heads of state. • Knight/Dame Grand Cross (GCPO): who wear a wide dark blue silk ribbon (sash) bordered with red which extends saltire-wise from the left shoulder to the right side where the insignia of the order is suspended by a rosette, and on the breast a large diamond-studded star. It is commonly awarded to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. • Knight/Dame Commander with Star (KC*PO/DC*PO): who in addition to the badge wear a star of smaller design than that of Knights of the Grand Cross on the breast. • Knight/Dame Commander (KCPO/DCPO): who wear the decoration at the neck. • Knight/Dame (KPO/DPO): who wear the star on the left breast. , re-instituted the Pian Order under his Papal name and pontificate in 1847. ==Insignia and uniform==

, unrestored and on display on his memorial The decoration is a regular octagram made of blue enamel, the spaces between the rays filled with gold flames. On the white medallion in the center the name of the founder surrounded by the words Virtuti et Merito ("Virtue and Merit") is engraved. The reverse side is the same save for the substitution of Anno 1847 for Pius IX. The rarely worn official uniform consists of an elaborately embroidered dark blue evening coat with golden epaulettes, white trousers, and a white-plumed bicorne. Knights with the Collar wear a gold decorated chain around the neck, and a star on the left side of the breast; Knights Grand Cross wear a sash and a star on the left side of the breast; Commanders wear a cross around the neck; and Knights wear a smaller cross on the left breast of the uniform: ==Notable members==

Royal houses and nobility • Juan Carlos I, former King of Spain, first and honorary canon of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, with Collar • Fra' Andrew Bertie, 78th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, with Collar • Henri, former Grand Duke of Luxembourg, with Collar • Albert II, former King of the Belgians, with Collar • Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, with Collar • Silvia, Queen of Sweden • Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, with Collar • Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia • Mwambutsa IV, King of Burundi • Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand, with Collar • Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, with Collar • Camilla, Queen of the United Kingdom • Gabriel García Moreno y Morán de Butrón, Duke of the Holy Faith (pontifical), former President of Ecuador, with Collar • Miles Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, Premier Duke in the Peerage of England • Herman, Count Van Rompuy, former prime minister of Belgium • Charles de Broqueville, 1st Comte de Broqueville, former prime minister of Belgium. • Paul Joseph, Comte de Smet de Naeyer, former prime minister of Belgium • Charles, Count Woeste, Belgian Minister Heads of State and Politicians , Austrian-Hungarian/Romanian politician, jurist and legal scholar, wearing the star of the Order of Pius IX • Emir Abdelkader, Algerian leader insurgent against French colonial rule. • Sergio Mattarella, current President of Italy • Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, current President of Portugal • Nicos Anastasiades, former President of Cyprus • Giorgio Napolitano, former President of Italy • Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, former President of Italy • Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, former President of Italy • Francesco Cossiga, former President of Italy • Jacques Chirac, former President of France • Marco Fidel Suárez, former President of Colombia • Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, former President of Greece • Diosdado Macapagal, former President of the Philippines • Juscelino Kubitschek, former President of Brazil • Carlos Menem, former President of Argentina • Demetris Christofias, former President of Cyprus • Urho Kekkonen, former President of Finland • Saitō Makoto, former Prime Minister of Japan • Władysław Grabski, former Prime Minister of Poland • George Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece • Franz von Papen, former Vice-Chancellor of Germany • Juan Vicente Gómez, former President of Venezuela • Sukarno, former President of Indonesia • W.T. Cosgrave, former President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State • Sean T. O'Kelly, former President of Ireland • Sarit Thanarat, former Prime Minister of Thailand • Nikol Pashinyan, current Prime Minister of Armenia • Ivo Miro Jović, former member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina • Giorgio Borg Olivier, former Prime Minister of Malta • Constantin Isopescu-Grecul, Romanian politician, jurist and university professor. • Petr Fiala, former prime minister of the Czech Republic Diplomats to the Holy See , Ambassador of the Republic of China to the Holy See, wearing sash and star of the Order of Pius IX • Callista Gingrich, former United States ambassador to the Holy See • Mercedes Arrastia Tuason, former Philippine ambassador to the Holy See • William A. Wilson, former United States ambassador to the Holy See • Francis Joseph Shakespeare, former United States ambassador to the Holy See • Thomas Patrick Melady, former United States ambassador to the Holy See • Raymond Flynn, former mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, former ambassador to the Holy See • Lindy Boggs, former Member of Congress, former ambassador to the Holy See • Khétévane Bagration de Moukhrani, former Georgian ambassador to the Holy See • Tim Fischer, former Australian deputy prime minister and former Australian ambassador to the Holy See Other notable members • Jean-Pierre Mazery, Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta • Virgil C. Dechant, former vice-president for the Vatican Bank & Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus ==See also==