History

The Order of the Star of Anjouan was established by Sultan Mohamed Said Omar in 1874 as an order of the Comoros. It became a French colonial order on September 12, 1896, and was later named an “Order of Overseas France” on September 1, 1950. It was suppressed by France when the National Order of Merit was created in 1963, and it was revived by the Comoros in 1992.

The Order was originally awarded for service to the Comoro protectorate. It is currently conferred upon Comorian citizens in recognition of exceptional civilian or military service.

There are two versions of the Comorian Order. The current version features an obverse inscription in both French and Arabic that translates to “Order of the Star of Anjouan, Comoros.” The decorations were originally suspended from red ribbons with white trim, but these were deemed to be too similar to the ribbons of the Legion of Honour and were altered on December 5, 1899. The decorations have since been suspended from pale blue ribbons edged with two thin orange stripes.

See also FRA164 in the Orders of the Third Republic, the Fourth Republic, and the Fifth Republic, for the French colonial Order that was awarded from 1896-1963.