|
Knight Grand Cross of the Sicilian Order of St Ferdinand and of Merit |
THE
SICILIAN ORDER OF ST. FERDINAND AND OF MERIT
This
order was instituted by his Sicilian Majesty in 1800, with a view of conferring
it only upon those who had performed some great and eminent service to the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. By the statutes the number of the Knight
Grand-Crosses is limited to twenty-four. Lord Viscount NELSON, and the Field
Marshal SOUWOROW-RIMINISKY Prince ITALISKY, were the two foreigners who were
elected by the Sovereign as the senior Knights Companions. The late Emperor of
Russia, PAUL I, was the third; and his Sicilian Majesty, his two sons, all the
Ministers of State, and the chief Nobles of the Court, to the amount of
twenty-one, were selected to complete the stipulated number of those who were
nominated as the original Knights Grand-Crosses, and Knights Commanders. The
second class is not restricted to any fixed number: Captains Sir Thomas
Troubridge, Sir Alexander J. Ball, Bart. And Sir Samuel Hood, Sir Thomas Louis,
and Benjamin Hallowell, of the British navy, were honoured by his Sicilian
Majesty with the badges of Knights Commanders, to testify his high sense of the
services they had performed for the safeguard and protection of his family and
his kingdom. As is invariably practised upon such occasions, Lord Viscount
NELSON solicited and obtained his Sovereign’s gracious permission, by warrant
under the sign manual, dated 7th of January, 1801, and registered in
the College of Arms, to assume the title, and to wear the insignia as a Knight
Grand Cross; and the other gentlemen received the like permission to wear the
insignia of Knights Commanders.
The
badge is of gold, in the form of a star of six rays, the whole issuing from a
gold circle. In the middle of this circle is the image of St. Ferdinand, in his
robes and crown; his right hand resting on a dawn sword, and holding in his left
a crown of laurel. This effigy of a patron is encircled with the motto – Pro
fide et Merito. This cross or badge is attached to a broad dark-blue ribbon,
with a small red border, these being the French and Spanish colours of the house
of Bourbon: it is worn scarf-wise over the right shoulder. The star is of
silver, and is worn on the left breast, and corresponds in all respects with the
cross above mentioned. The Commanders wear the medal of the Order suspended from
the neck by a narrow ribbon, of the same colour as the large one: they are not
entitled to wear the star on their upper apparel until they are advanced to the
rank of Grand Cross.