Order of the Crown of Italy

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Order of the Crown of Italy Ordine della Corona d'Italia
Star of the Grand Cordon set of the Order
Awarded by The Head of the Italian Royal Family
Type	Dynastic Order of Knighthood
Established	20 February 1868
Royal house	House of Savoy
Eligibility	Military, civilian
Awarded for	Meritorious Service or Achievement
Status	Rarely constituted
Founder	King Victor Emmanuel II
Grand Master	Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice
Chairman of the Council	Vacant
Grades	Knight Grand Cross Grand Officer Commander Officer Knight
Precedence
Next (higher)	Royal Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Next (lower)	Royal Civil Order of Savoy Royal Military Order of Savoy
Ribbon bar

The Order of the Crown of Italy (Italian: Ordine della Corona d'Italia or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861.^[1] It was awarded in five degrees for civilian and military merit. Today the Order of the Crown has been replaced by the Order of Merit of Savoy and is still conferred on new knights by the current head of the house of Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice.

The order has been suppressed by law since the foundation of the Republic in 1946. However, Umberto II did not abdicate his position as fons honorum and it remained under his Grand Mastership as a dynastic order. While the continued use of those decorations conferred prior to 1951 is permitted in Italy, the crowns on the ribbons issued before 1946 must be substituted for as many five pointed stars on military uniforms.^[2]