His Majesty awards hereditary honors upon persons who have faithfully served the Rwandan Crown. As Rwanda was in the sphere of Belgian influence at the time of the King's rule -- although technically an independent nation under United Nations trust -- the honors have a European influence. The honors granted are Marquis/Marquise, Comte/Comtesse, Vicomte/Vicomtesse, and Baron/Baroness. If the recipient is male, his lawful spouse is entitled to a courtesy female honor of the equivalent. If the recipient is female, her lawful spouse does not receive a courtesy honor. Furthermore, children of both male and female recipients are not entitled to a courtesy honor. All recipients of the honors are entitled to a style of His/Her Excellency.
There are four dynastic Orders under the protection of the Crown of Rwanda. Order of the Lion was a state Order (albeit unrecognized by the King of the Belgians while Rwanda was under Belgium's sphere of influence) created by H.M. King Mutare III; the others are creations of H.M. King Kigeli V. All recipients of the below Orders are entitled to use the title of Chevalier if male and Dame if female. Legal spouses and children of all Orders are not entitled to any courtesy titles.
Riband, Star, and Badge of the Order of the Drum*
The Order of the Drum is the highest Order within the pantheon of Orders under the protection of the Crown of Rwanda. There are two ranks within the Order -- that of Grand Cross and Commander. H.M. King Kigeli V serves as Grand Master of the Order. Recipients of the Order are entitled to the style of His/Her Excellency and the post-nomials of "GCDR" or "CDR", short for Grand Cross of the Order of the Drum of Rwanda or Commander of the Order of the Drum of Rwanda.
Riband, Star, and Badge of the Order of the Crown*
The Order of the Crown is the second-highest dynastic Order of the King. There is only one rank within the Order -- that of Grand Collar. H.M. King Kigeli V serves as Grand Master of the Order. Recipients of the Order are entitled to use the style His/Her Excellency and the post-nomials of "GCCR", short for Grand Collar of the Order of the Crown of Rwanda.
Riband, Star, and Badge of the Order of the Crested Crane*
The Order of the Crested Crane is the third-highest Order within the pantheon of Orders under sanction of the Crown of Rwanda. There are two ranks within the Order -- that of Grand Cross and Commander. Unlike the other awards, the Order of the Crested Crane is most often a hereditary honor. Akin to the other Orders, H.M. King Kigeli V serves as Grand Master of the Order. Recipients of the Order are entitled to the style of The Honorable and the post-nomials of "GCCCR" or "CCCR", short for Grand Cross of the Order of the Crested Crane of Rwanda or Commander of the Order of the Crested Crane of Rwanda.
Riband, Star, and Badge of the Order of the Lion*
The Order of the Lion is the lowest Order under sanction of the Crown of Rwanda. Unlike the other Orders, there are five classes -- Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Knight Commander, Officer, and Knight. H.M. King Kigeli V serves as Grand Master of the Order. Recipients of the Order at the class of Grand Cross are entitled to the style of The Honorable. All other recipients are not entitled to a style. Post-nomials are reflective of one's class within the Order; thus, the post-nomial for Grand Cross recipients are "GCLR", Grand Officers are "GOLR", Knight Commanders are "KCLR", Officers are "OLR", and Knights are "KLR".
* Source: Burke's Peerage World Orders of Knighthood and Merit
If you wish to support King Kigeli and Orders or have related questions, please send electronic mail to H.E. Alex Montague, Secretary General of the Crown of Rwanda, who is also the President of the Association. Your inquiry should be directed to:
President of the Association and Secretary General
Abamis (plural form of Mwami) have been the fons honorum of honors within Rwanda for hundreds of years. The following is translated by Stewart Addington Saint-David, PhD from the book Le code des institutions politiques du Rwanda (pages 77-79)
by Alexis Kagame (1952)
It is to the King that belongs the right to bestow honorific distinctions. Each warrior having killed his seventh enemy will receive the distinction called the Umudende (Necklace of the Seventh). However, the acquisition of this distinction depends on the following conditions: the seven kills must be foreigners; adversaries killed during punitive expeditions or occasional combats will not be counted; they must have given up the ghost on a field of battle, not elsewhere, following wounds received. If the enemy expires having received several wounds, his death is attributed to him who first wounded him, even if his blow was a light one.
The distinction of the Umudende is a necklace of iron, from which hang small bells in even numbers: 2, 4 or 6, at chest height. By a decision of Kigeli IV Rwabugili were abolished obligations attached to this distinction which were considered too onerous, and which rendered it inaccessible to heroes of modest fortune. 1
The warrior having killed his 14th enemy by the conditions of these rules will receive the distinction called the Impotore (Torse). The Torse consists of a bracelet formed from a leaf of iron and a leaf of brass rolled one on the other to create regular torse form. The Torse imposes no obligation on whomsoever receives it.
The honorific distinctions in question are mutually exclusive: the warrior decorated with the Torse can no longer wear the Necklace of the Seventh.
The two objects must be conserved with great respect in a separate hut at some distance and cannot be placed on the ground.
The warrior having killed his 21st enemy under the same conditions will be the object of a grand ceremony called the Cremation of the Javelin and will thus become a national hero. The Cremation of the Javelin (Gucana uruti) is decreed by the King, and its ceremony takes place on the highest mountain of the region where the hero lives. The poets, bards, warrior chanters, in a word all those who perform the solemnities of the Court participate, by order of the King...
The King cannot be decorated with anything other than the Necklace of the Seventh. He receives it for seven kings or sub-kings, enthroned under the sign of the drum, and bearing in their countries the title of King, and killed during his reign... Said princes cannot be killed but by an official expedition... after consultation of divine oracles undertaken specifically for this purpose, for royal blood cannot be spilled without a favorable and conclusive oracle. From whence it appears that armed incursions cannot threaten the life of a foreign prince having borne the title of King. A non-kingly native prince, called umuhinza (president of cultures) has nothing of the sacred character, and thus the esoteric code is not alarmed by this.
When an expedition has been directed against a foreign country, with a view toward its annexation, it is absolutely necessary that it be preceded by an offensive liberator. One calls offensive liberator (Umucengeli) the hero designated by special consultation of the divine oracle to replace the King, and to go spill his blood on the field of battle, in order to give to Rwanda the right to annex a territory bought with the price of royal blood.
One calls defensive liberator (Umutabazi) the hero designated in the same fashion to spill his blood in the place of the King, in order to save the independence of Rwanda when threatened by a foreign country. The offensive liberator is not required but for the annexation of a territory ruled by a monarch reigning under the conditions cited above, to wit: kings or sub-kings, enthroned under the sign of the drum and bearing, in their countries the title of King...
[Translator's Note: Alexis Kagame, born in Kiyanza, Rwanda in 1912, was a Rwandan poet, historian and Roman Catholic priest who introduced the written art, both in his own language, Kinyarwanda, and in French, to his country.
Kagame, the son of a deputy chief of the Tutsi people, was baptized in 1928 and ordained a priest in 1941. His considerable activity before and after taking his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, as well as his deep study of Rwandan literature made him one of the chief experts on the traditional organization and practices of Rwandan society, as well as on its ancient monarchy.
He died in 1981, after having created an extensive body of work in his various fields of expertise. He is primarily remembered to as the foremost Rwandan historian of the last century.
Throughout the copious notes for this chapter, Kagame makes frequent mention of the various abami (kings) decorated with the Necklace of the Seventh, including Ruganzu II Ndoli (1510-1543), Mutara I Semugeshi (1543-1576), Kigeli II Nyamuheshera (1576-1609), Kigeli III Ndabrasa (1708-1741), Kigeli IV Rwabugili (1853-1895) and Yuhi V Musinga (1896-1931). Thus, this decoration dates from the late 15th century at the very least, and in all probability from a much earlier period.]
1 The recipient was obligated, for instance, to sacrifice a young bull at each new moon, a ceremony which was accompanied by a mock marriage. Thus no one, in a society of cattle owners, can expose himself to the obligation to kill a cow at each new moon, without knowing at which point he will be liberated of this obligation... [Author' Note].