National Order of Merit (Paraguay) Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History == The National Order of Merit was established on April 8, 1865 by [[Francisco Solano López]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Gillingham|first=Harrold E.|url=https://archive.org/details/southamericandec0000harr/page/n5/mode/2up?q=national+order+of+merit|title=South American Decorations and War Medals|publisher=The American Numismatic Society|others=Lenard L. Babin|year=1970|edition=Reprint|location=New York|pages=136–137|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1867, López declared that women were eligible to earn the award.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saeger|first=James Schofield|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajLpDyIbcdIC&dq=%22national+order+of+merit%22+paraguay&pg=PA132|title=Francisco Solano López and the Ruination of Paraguay: Honor and Egocentrism|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7425-3755-2|location=Lanham|pages=161|language=en}}</ref> The award was based on the [[Legion of Honour|French Legion of Honor]] and had several different levels.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Washburn|first=Charles Ames|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3cYAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22national+order+of+merit%22+paraguay&pg=PA45|title=The History of Paraguay: With Notes of Personal Observations, and Reminiscences of Diplomacy Under Difficulties|publisher=Lee & Shepard, Publishishers|year=1871|volume=2|location=Boston|pages=44–45|language=en}}</ref> The highest level was the Grand Cross.<ref name=":2" /> The other levels were Knight, Official, Commander and Grand Official.<ref name=":2" /> On September 7, 1956, Law No. 394 was passed with several provisions regarding the awarding of the National Order of Merit.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=16 January 2016|title=Insfrán recibirá en Paraguay la condecoración de la "Orden Nacional al Mérito" por apoyo a inundados – NF|url=https://www.noticiasformosa.com.ar/2016/01/16/insfran-recibira-en-paraguay-la-condecoracion-de-la-orden-nacional-al-merito-por-apoyo-a-inundados/|access-date=2020-06-24|website=Noticias Formosa|language=es}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page