The Order of St. St. Cyril and Methodius was founded on 18 May 1909, on the occasion of the Proclamation of Bulgarian Independence.
In February 1910, it was approved by a special Act of the 14th.. Read more » Common National Assembly.
This was the highest order of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
It was conferred upon high-ranking Bulgarian statesmen who had already been assigned Bulgarian orders of higher class,
and also to foreign Christian statesmen or Sovereigns of State for their valued service to Bulgaria.
According to the statute, the number of living Bulgarians awarded with it should not exceed fifteen.
From the date of its foundation until 9 September 1944, the Order of St. St. Cyril and Methodius was awarded to only nine Bulgarians,
including three members of the royal family (Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and his two sons, Prince Boris of Turnovo, and Prince Cyril of Preslav).
The first bearer of the Order was Exarch Yossif I (1912).
The other bearers, in the order of their awarding, are: Ivan Geshov (1913), Dr. Vassil Radoslavov (1918), Ivan Vazov (1920), Bishop Simeon (1922), and General Danail Nikolaev (1936).
Fifty-two foreigners were also awarded, most of them Sovereigns of State, to begin with the Russian Tsar Nikolay II, who is the first bearer of the Order of St. St. Cyril and Methodius.
He was endowed for Russia's great role in the Proclamation of Bulgarian Independence 1908.
The sign of the Order is shaped as a clover-like cross, enameled in light-blue, with gold edges and length of arms of 75 mm.
On the averse, between the arms of the cross are red-enameled stylized flames charged with 4 silver Bourbon fleurs-de-lis.
The gold circle bears the blue-lettered motto: "EX ORIENTE LUX" (Light Is from the East). Beneath the motto are a five-pointed star and two stylized decorations.
On a multicolored medallion, the effigies of the Slavonic masters, Cyril and Methodius are featured.
On the reverse, a similar gold circle bears the blue-lettered inscription of the date of the Order's foundation: "XVIII majus MDCCССІХ" (18 May 1909),
the year being separated on both sides by five-pointed stars and two stylized decorations.
The cypher of Ferdinand I is fixed on a red-enameled medallion: "Ф" with a crown.
The Order of St. St. Cyril and Methodius feature also a Grand Collar, a Lesser Collar, and a Grand Cross.
Known are two issues - of Tsar Ferdinand I and of Tsar Boris III, as well as some differentiations in the separate issues.
The Grand Collar was worn on the neck, it was a privilege of the Sovereign who was also the Order's Grand Master.
It consists of 24 rectangular links measuring 22 x 26 mm.
The links resemble stylized red-enamelled flames,
with the alternating images of the Bulgarian lion with a shield, the Founder's cypher, and the Bourbon fleurs-de-lis.
The Collar is 920 mm long.
To it, the Order's Cross is attached by a chain and a Seraph.
Bulgaria
