History

The Order of Kim Khanh was an Order of Merit of the Empire of Vietnam. It was founded by Emperor Thanh-Thai in 1889. He gave this award to his mandarins or senior officials in recognition of extraordinary merit. It consists of a gold plaque in the form of a traditional Vietnamese gong with Chinese characters and symbols such as dragons, dragon paws with pearl, foals, turtles and phoenixes.

Attached to the plaque are a traditional illustration of a bat in orange and white pearls, beads of red and white coral, freshwater pearls and gold. The Chinese characters translates to"A visible sign of thanks and good will".

The reverse inscription translates to "awarded by the Emperor Khải Định". The inscription features the Class of the Order.

Originally, the decoration was created in three Classes, but in practice only a Single Class with two grades was awarded. It is distinguished by the tien attached to the tassels: six tien for the I Grade and four tien for the II Grade.

In 1875, the French president was awarded a Special Class of the Order.

The award was awarded in a rectangular silver or gold box. It has a decor of dragons and a red silk lining.

The Order of Kim Khanh was abolished when Vietnam became a Republic in 1945.