The Order of Ouissam Alaouite () or the Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui is a military decoration of Morocco which is bestowed by the King of Morocco upon those civilians and military officers who have displayed heroism in combat or have contributed meritorious service to the Moroccan state. The decoration was established on 11 January 1913 in replacement of the Order of Ouissam Hafidien. It is awarded in five classes: Grand Cordon (Grand Cordon), Grand Officer (Grand Officier), Commander (Commandeur), Officer (Officier) and Knight (Chevalier).
The Order of Ouissam Alaouite is similar to the Legion of Merit, awarded by the United States military.
History
The establishment of the Order was a significant result of the establishment of full French influence in Moroccoas a result of the activities of French banks, and the Order, similar to the of the Légion d'Honneur in Paris.Bidwell, Robin Leonard. Morocco Under Colonial Rule, p. 89., was included in the system of French colonial awards.
The ribbon of the order during this period was a shade of orangeWyllie, Robert E. (1921). Orders, Decorations and Insignia, Military and Civil: With the History and Romance of Their Origin and a Full Description of Each, p. 135. or pumpkin-coloured.Patton, George. (1995), The War as I Knew It, p. 34. In 1934, a white stripe was added on each side of the ribbon.
During the Second World War, the Order of Ouissam Alaouite was awarded frequently to United States military personnel who had participated in the planning and execution of Operation Torch, the invasion of French Morocco. Morocco was a protectorate of France from 1912 to 1956, and the decoration was bestowed frequently on French military officers during that period.
After Moroccan independence in 1956, the Alawid Order became a prerogative of the Alawid King and his heirs.
The Order continues through the present day, the original medal and the 1934's ribbon unchanged.
Ribbons (1913–1934)KnightOfficerCommanderGrand OfficerGrand Cordon
Ribbons (1934–present)KnightOfficerCommanderGrand OfficerGrand Cordon
Recipients
Grand cordon 1916 Henri Gouraud: acting French resident-general in Morocco.
1922 Laurent Eynac: undersecretary of state for aeronautics.
1926 José Sanjurjo: High Commissioner of Spain to Morocco.
1929 Hédi Lakhoua: Tunisian Minister of the Pen.
1930 Louis-Athanase Dubois: French counter admiral. André Maginot: French minister of war. Jacques-Louis Dumesnil: French naval minister. Louis Rollin: French minister of merchant marine. Léon Baréty: undersecretary of state for the budget.
1931 Luciano López Ferrer: Spanish high commissioner in Tétouan
1941
Charles Platon: French admiral.
1943 Dwight D. Eisenhower: US General. George C. Marshall: Chief of Staff of the United States Army. George S. Patton: US General.
1945 Jean de Lattre de Tassigny: French general. Antoine Béthouart: French general. Émile Bollaert: regional commissioner of the Republic in Strasbourg Georges Bidault: chief of the French delegation to the San Francisco Conference.
1946 Edmond Michelet: French army minister. Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque: French general. Vincent Auriol: President of France.
1950 De Blesson: general delegate at the residence.
1952 Jacques Gavini: French secretary of state for the Navy. Roger Duchet: French Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones.
1953 Matthew Ridgway: Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Louis Christiaens: secretary of state for aeronautics.
1954 William Fechteler: American admiral Carleton H. Wright: American Rear Admiral. Georges Hutin: secretary general of the protectorate. Ludovic Chancel: general delegate at the residence. Jacques Chevallier: French secretary of state for war.
1955 Gilbert Grandval: French resident-general in Morocco. André-Louis Dubois: French resident-general in Morocco. Pierre Boyer de Latour du Moulin: French resident-general in Morocco. Jacques-Louis Murtin: air commander in Morocco. Burgund: French general and senior commander of French troops in Morocco Hassan El Bakouri: Egyptian Minister of Wakfs. Émile Roche: president of the French Economic Council. Si Sayed Hassan Ibrahim: minister of state of Yemen.
1956 Rafael García Valiño: high commissioner of Spain to Morocco.
1957 Eduardo González-Gallarza: Spanish Air minister. Habib Bourguiba: President of Tunisia. Giorgio La Pira: Mayor of Florence. Louis Massignon: French Islamologist.
1962 Roger Seydoux: French ambassador to Morocco.
1970 Jacques Gillet: French doctor.
1980 David C. Jones: chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1987 Walter Jesser: German ambassador to Morocco.
1988 William Henry Draper III: administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Aníbal Cavaco Silva: Prime Minister of Portugal.
1990 Colin Powell: chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1992 Jacques Lanxade: chief of staff of the French armies.
1993 Édouard Balladur: Prime Minister of France.
1994 Philippe Morillon: French general.
1996 Helmut Kohl: Chancellor of Germany. Philippe Séguin: President of the National Assembly of France. José María Aznar: president of the Spanish government.
1997 Lionel Jospin: French Prime Minister.
1999 James Gustave Speth: Administrator of the United Nations Development Program. Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Prime Minister of India
2000 Sepp Blatter: president of FIFA Nicole Fontaine: President of the European Parliament
2001 Doudou Sala Diop: ambassador of Senegal to Morocco. Suleiman Ibrahim All Marjan:: ambassador of Kuwait to Morocco. Indrajit Singh Rathor: ambassador of India to Morocco. Jordi Pujol: President of the Government of Catalonia.
2002 Michel de Bonnecorse: French ambassador to Morocco. Husein Naci Akinci: Turkish ambassador to Morocco.
2003 James Wolfensohn: president of the World Bank Group Allan Wagner Tizon: Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru. Mahmoud Ben Ali Ben Mohamed Al Rahma: ambassador of Oman to Morocco. Isabel Allende: President of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies. Moustapha Hassan Moustapha: ambassador of Lebanon to Morocco.
2004 Mohamed Daoudia: Jordanian ambassador to Morocco. Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa: prime minister of Bahrain Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba: first lady of Gabon. Ántero Flores-Aráoz: President of the Congress of the Republic of Peru.
2005 Wu Bangguo: Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Boualem Bessayah: Algerian ambassador to Morocco. Cristina Funes-Noppen: Ambassador of Belgium to Morocco. Wajih Hassan Ali Kassem (Abou Marouane): Palestinian ambassador to Morocco.
2006 Óscar Maúrtua: Minister of Foreign Relations of Perú. Siriwat Suthigasame: Ambassador of Thailand to Morocco. Mamadou Saliou Sylla: Ambassador of Guinea to Morocco.
2007 Ahmed Ben Bella: former President of Algeria. Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller: chairperson of Maersk. John Danilovich: chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Carlos Ghosn: chairman and CEO of Renault and Nissan. Issa Hamad Abou Chihab: Ambassador of UAE to Morocco.
2008 Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Armand De Decker: president of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives. Arne Aasheim: ambassador of Norway to Morocco. Alexandre Tokovinine: ambassador of Russia to Morocco. Mauricio Torbay Hachem: Venezuelan businessman. Carlos Alberto Simas Magalhaes: ambassador of Brazil to Morocco.
2009 Thomas Riley: ambassador of the United States to Morocco. Cheyakh Ould Ely: ambassador of Mauritania to Morocco. Saleh Bekkari: ambassador of Tunisia to Morocco. Jean-François Thibault: ambassador of France to Morocco. Kobina Annan: ambassador of Ghana to Morocco. Hassan Abdelkader: ambassador of Palestine to Morocco. Georgios Georgountzos: ambassador of Greece to Morocco. Kadri Fathi Abdelmottalab: ambassador of Egypt to Morocco. Vercauteren Drubbel: ambassador of Belgium to Morocco. Salah Mohamed Saoud Al-Baïjane: ambassador of Kuwait to Morocco. Mohamad Ben Abdellah Al Farissi: ambassador of Oman to Morocco. Adolfo Zaldivar: president of the Chilean senate. Sigmund Sternberg: president of the Three Religions Forum.Le Matin Paulette Brisepierre: honorary president of the France-Morocco Friendship Group.
2010 Sepp Blatter: president of FIFA. Alberto de Núnez: ambassador of Argentine to Morocco. Robert Zoellick: President of the World Bank.
2011 Issa Hayatou: president of CAF. Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud: Saudi prince. Vasile Gheorge Popovici: former ambassador of Romania to Morocco. Luis Planas: ambassador of Spain to Morocco. Ibou Ndaye: former ambassador of Senegal to Morocco. Charles Aké Tchimou: former ambassador of Ivory Coast to Morocco
2012 Ibrahim Traore: ambassador of Burkina Faso to Morocco François Banga Eboumi: ambassador of Gabon to Morocco Timothy Colin Morris: ambassador of United Kingdom to Morocco. Mamadouba Diabaté: ambassador of Guinea to Morocco Bruno Joubert: ambassador of France to Morocco Sakr Ben Moubarak Al-Mansouri: ambassador of Qatar to Morocco. Fayçal Al Choubaki: former ambassador of Jordan to Morocco. Joao Rosa Là: former ambassador of Portugal to Morocco
2013 Khaled Ben Salmane Ben Ahmed Al Khalifa: ambassador of Bahrain to Morocco. Ahmed Hassan Sobh: ambassador of Palestine to Morocco. Boris Bolotine: ambassador of Russia to Morocco. Shlomo Amar: Chief Rabbi. Jean-Luc Bodson: ambassador of Belgium to Morocco. Clifford Nii Amon Kotey: ambassador of Ghana to Morocco. Moussa Ben Hamdan Attaai: ambassador of Oman to Morocco. Alberto Navarro: ambassador of Spain to Morocco.
2014 Mohammed Ben Abdurahman Al Becher: ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Morocco. Fred Harald Nomme: ambassador of Norway to Morocco. Toumani Djimé Diallo: former ambassador of Mali to Morocco Jack Lang: president of the Arab World Institute in Paris and former French Minister of Culture. Tosari Widjaja: ambassador of Indonesia to Morocco. Kundalee Prachimdhit: former ambassador of Thailand to Morocco.
2015 Bertrand Louis: ambassador of Switzerland to Morocco. Witold Spirydowicz: ambassador of Poland to Morocco. Christina Harttil: ambassador of Finland to Morocco. Charles Fries: ambassador of France to Morocco. Antonio Sozzo: apostolic nuncio in Rabat.
2016 Al Asri Said Ahmed Al Dahiri: UAE Ambassador to Morocco. Michaela Froňková: ambassador of Czech to Morocco. Pierre Bergé: president of Majorelle Garden Foundation José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero: former Prime Minister of Spain Raymond L. Conner: president of Boeing Simona Ioan: ambassador of Romania to Morocco
2019 Tarek Aliev: former Azerbaijani ambassador to Morocco. Boriana Ivanova Simeonova: Bulgarian Ambassador to Morocco. Abdu Razzaq Guy Kambogo: former ambassador of Gabon to Morocco Abdullah Falah Bin Abdullah Al Dosari: Qatari Ambassador to Morocco. Jean-François Girault: French Ambassador to Morocco. Ousmane Amadou Sy: ambassador of Mali to Morocco
2020 Sladjana Prica Tavciovska: former Serbian ambassador to Morocco Maria Rita da Franca Sousa Ferro Levy Gomes: former Portuguese ambassador to Morocco.
2021 Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello: former Brazilian president Óscar Rodolfo Benítez Estragó: former ambassador of Paraguay to Morocco Soultana Leila Houssain: former ambassador of Bangladesh to Morocco
2023 Cheikh Saeed bin Mohammed bin Ali Albarami: former Omani ambassador to Morocco. Klaus Kogeler: former Austrian ambassador to Morocco Julio Bitelli: former Brazilian ambassador to Morocco. Vito Rallo: former apostolic nuncio in Rabat.
2024 Nell Stewart: former Canadian ambassador to Morocco Idrissa Traoré: former ambassador of Ivory Coast to Morocco Astanah Abdul Aziz: former Malaysian ambassador to Morocco.
Grand officer 1920
Sabino Rinella: Consul General of Italy in Tangier. Khelil Bouhageb: President of the Municipality of Tunis. Chedly El Okby: Governor of Cap-Bon in Nabeul.