The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (German: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne.
Classes
The order was originally awarded in three classes: Grand Cross,Commander's Cross, and Knight's Cross. In 1869, the class of Commander with Star was added, which ranked immediately below the Grand Cross. The Officer's Cross, which ranked between Commander and Knight, was introduced on 1 February 1901.
The order ceased to exist as a governmental award with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. It was not re-established with the foundation of the Republic of Austria. It has been revived as of 2017 by Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen as a private association.
Ribbon bars
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Grand Cross
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Commander with Star (1869)
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Commander
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Officer (1901)
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Knight/Dame
Description
Knights wore the decoration suspended from a triangular ribbon on the left breast. Officers wore it on the left breast without a ribbon. Commanders wore the decoration at the neck, as did Commander with Star, who also wore a breast star. The Grand Cross was worn suspended from the shoulder and also came with a breast star. The ribbon of all classes of the order was plain red for civilians but the order was also awarded with the ribbon of the bravery medal in the case of military merit.
As was common with other Austro-Hungarian awards of the period, the Order of Franz Joseph was further awarded with the addition of the War decoration (in the form of a laurel wreath) and Swords which could be awarded for military merit. However, if soldiers were honoured, it was usually for distinguished service as opposed to gallantry in the face of the enemy.
^p. 33, Butrica (1991) Andrew J. Boca Raton, Florida "Baudot, Jean Maurice Emile" Froehlich, Kent (editors) Fritz E., Allen The Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications Vol. 2 CRC Press
^Watson, Derek Bruckner. New York: Schuster & Macmillan (1997): 39