The Order of Aryamehr () was one of the orders of honor of Iran during the Pahlavi monarchy.
In 1873, Naser al-Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty established the Order of Aftab (order of the sun) restricted to female sovereigns or consorts (1st class) and princess ladies or women of high rank (2nd class). In 1939, the order was renamed Order of Khorshid (Nishan-e Khorshid). This was then transformed into Order of Aryamehr (Neshān-e Āryāmehr, Nešâne Āryāmehr or Nishān-i Āryāmehr). It was the third and last imperial order of knighthood founded by Mohammad Reza Shah on 26 September 1967 in honour of his consort, Empress Farah Diba, and restricted to ladies only. The first class was restricted to female Sovereigns or consorts of reigning rulers, the second class to princesses.
Design The order had two classes (First Class and Second Class). The First Class insignia consisted of a star in the shape of the sun, with sixteen large rays and smaller rays placed between them. The sun was made of platinum and decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds. Each ray radiated outward around a central circle. In the center of the circle was the Pahlavi Crown, made of gold and set with a single brilliant diamond. The Second Class insignia featured a sun made of white gold, while the crown did not contain a diamond.Official Orders of the Imperial State of Iran (1968), by Mohsen Mofakham, p. 79. The overall design gave the decoration the appearance of a sun, reflecting its title, "Aryamehr", meaning "Light of the Aryans", "Aryan Sun", or the light and radiance of the Iranian people.Ettela'at newspaper, Thursday, 16 September 1965.
Purpose The order was established in honor of the National Consultative Assembly on the occasion of the conferral of the title Aryamehr upon Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. As one of the royal family orders, it was also awarded to the women of the royal family. The First Class was awarded to the Empress (Shahbanu), while the Second Class of the Order of Aryamehr was awarded to the Shah's daughters. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the order lost its official status and was abolished.
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