The Order of the White Eagle (or Order Orła Białego in Polish) is Poland’s highest order and it’s awarded to both civilians and the military for their merits. The order was officially instituted on 1 November 1705 by Augustus II the Strong and bestowed on eight of his closest diplomatic and political supporters. It is awarded to the most distinguished Poles and the highest-ranking representatives of foreign countries.
Although Augustus the Strong limited the number of knights to seventy-two, he only conferred the Order forty times before his death in 1733 (his son, Augustus, awarded the Order more than three hundred times). The king may have been inspired to found the Order by the example of Peter the Great’s recent founding of the Russian Order of Saint Andrew and by the example of the prestigious French Order of the Holy Spirit.
Initially the creation of the Order was strongly opposed by many of the Polish nobility since membership in the Order conferred a distinction that violated the traditional equality of all Polish nobles. Since the Order had no patron saint, Augustus II made 2 August the feast of the Order. His son, Augustus III, however, changed the Order’s feast day to 3 August.
After the third partitioning of Poland, in 1795, the Order was abolished. It was renewed by 1807 and became the highest award of the Duchy of Warsaw, and after 1815 of the Kingdom of Poland. It was also popular among the Russian tsars, who also conferred the Order upon themselves. The Order of the White Eagle officially became Poland’s highest decoration by an act of Parliament of 4 February 1921. Following the collapse of communism, the Order was once again reinstated on 26 October 1992.
The Order of the White Eagle is one of the oldest orders in the world still in use.
The Order of the White Eagle Design
The badge Order of the White Eagle was originally a red enamel oval gold medal with an image of the Polish white eagle on its front side and bearing Augustus II’s royal cypher over crossed swords on its reverse side worn on a light blue ribbon. This was replaced by a Maltese cross in 1709.
The 1713 Insignia
The 1713 badge was a Maltese cross enameled red with white borders with diamonds set in each of the balls at the eight points of the cross and with diamond set rays appearing between each of the points of the cross. In the center of the cross was a white enameled eagle in high relief with spread wings and facing left and with a diamond-set royal crown on its head. At the top of the cross between the two top points was a diamond-studded semi-circular link through which passed a diamond-studded ring through which, in turn, passed the light-blue ribbon from which it was worn. The reverse side was enameled white with red borders and had at its center an oval gold medallion with the founder’s crowned royal cypher above two crossed swords taken from his arms as the Arch-Marshall of the Holy Roman Empire.
The star of the order consisted of an eight-pointed gold star with straight rays which bore a red-bordered white enameled cross pattée with golden rays between the arms and with a golden rosette at its center. The arms of this cross pattée bore the motto “Pro Fide, Lege et Rege” (For Faith, Law and the King) in golden letters. The King of Poland could also wear the cross from a collar of 24 alternating links of white enameled eagles, crowned and holding scepters and orbs, and dark blue enameled ovals surrounded by gold rays.
