Stars and Crosses.

Hungary, freshly independent after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, created a new system of honours, the most important of which was the Hungarian Order of Merit. Its distinguishing shape, the white cross, was inspired by the insignia designed for the Hungarian Order of Military Merit of the 1848-49 War of Independence, which was later manufactured in exile in Italy. The Hungarian Order of Merit (initially the Hungarian Cross of Merit), founded in 1922, has undergone several changes over the decades. In 1946, a new medal was established under the name of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, but only the central element and the colour of the ribbons of the insignia changed. This award was abolished a few years later, in 1949, and ceased to exist during the decades of socialism. In 1991, it was re-established as the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, and in 2011, pursuant to Act CCII of 2011, it was renamed the Hungarian Order of Merit. The history of this high-ranking award, one century old by now, is presented in an exhibition entitled Stars and Crosses in the Dome Hall of the Hungarian National Museum. The exhibition – with nearly one hundred insignia of the order – was jointly organised by the Hungarian National Museum and the Military History Institute and Museum.