Order of the Dove

Order of the Dove Ordo Columbae (Latin)
Type	Order of merit
Established	07 June 1858
Country	Sanctaria
Ribbon
Motto	Acta sanctorum
Criteria	Meritorious conduct on behalf or in the service of Sanctaria in the realm of foreign affairs
Status	Currently constituted
Grand Master	President of Sanctaria
Secretary General	Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Grades	Commander (CMD) Officer (ORD) Member (MRD)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Sanctaria
Next (lower)	Order of the Thorn

The Order of the Dove (Latin: Ordo Columbae) is a Sanctarian order of merit founded on 07 June 1858 by Simon XIII, Patriarch of the Church of Sanctaria in celebration of the Treaty of Nicene, which ended decades of civil unrest in Galvium, a province within the Papal States of Sanctaria.

It is named in honour of the dove, the traditional symbol of peace.

Appointees to the Order of the Dove are traditionally men and women, such as diplomats, who render important or loyal service in relation to foreign affairs; it may also be conferred for extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country.

Description

The Order includes three grades, in descending order of seniority and rank:

• Commander (CMD)
• Officer (ORD)
• Member (MRD)

It is used to honour individuals who have rendered important services in relation to diplomatic or foreign affairs. People are appointed to the Order rather than awarded it. Sanctarian Ambassadors to foreign nations are regularly appointed as ORDs or MRDs. It is the traditional award for long-serving members of the Sanctarian Diplomatic Service.

The Order's motto is Acta sanctorum (Latin for "Acts of the Saints"). Prior to the patronage of the Sanctarian Catholic Church being removed from the Order in 1974, its patron saint was St. George, patron saint of Sanctaria.

The Order is one of the most senior in the Sanctarian honours system, ranked after only the Order of Sanctaria. The next ranked order relates to military service, the Order of the Thorn.

History

The Patriarch Simon XIII founded the Order in 1858 to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Nicene. Citizens of Nicene, a city located in Galvium, then a province of Sanctaria, the chief state of the Papal States of Sanctaria, had been protesting the rule of Doge Carlos; the main cause of consternation had been the rates and taxes imposed on the Galvium citizenry, a rate which opponents likened to "a burden of a bull upon the shoulders of a child". Protests were originally peaceful, such as refusing to pay the duties themselves, however Carlos sought to ensure payment through means such as summarily confiscating property from opponents, even if it meant impoverishment. Retaliatory measures by the protestors took on more violent forms, such as beating tax collectors, killing livestock owned by the Doge, and the burning of a number of the Ducal Carriages. Tensions reached an uneasy crescendo, however, when protestors assassinated the Doge's son and heir, Frederick.

News of the growing situation in Nicene reached Patriarch Simon XIII in Sanctus and he dispatched a favoured cardinal Angelo Monterri. Monterri reached Nicene before Doge Carlos could seek revenge for the death of his son and, after a number of weeks, mediated a peaceful settlement where taxes would be lowered by 15% across the board; as reparations for the death of his son, however, representatives of the citizens agreed to provide compensation, equal to 2% of the total annual tax intake, on an annual basis until Carlos' own death.

To recognise the willingness of both Doge Carlos and the regular citizens to come to table to negotiate despite the violence that had proceeded the mediation, Patriarch Simon XIII created the Order of the Dove and appointed the Doge, Cardinal Monterri, and the citizens' negotiators to its grades as inaugural members.

When the Papal States of Sanctaria was reorganised into the Divine Republic of Sanctaria, constituents states not incorporated into the new territory were given independence. These states no longer award the Order of the Dove, or any other Order associated with Sanctaria in any of its forms. Within Sanctaria itself, all Orders were transferred from the Church of Sanctaria to the Government of Sanctaria, and religious patronage was removed. The President of Sanctaria is now the Grand Master of the Order, replacing the Patriarch, and responsibility to appointing members to the Order now falls to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs as Secretary General of the Order.

Composition

The President of Sanctaria is the Grand Master of the order and is responsible, at least nominally, for the running of the Order and the appointment of new members. In reality, however, they function only as honourary head of the Order, with appointments to the Order done on by the Government through the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. The Honours Office within the Chancellery is responsible for recommending new members for appointment; this office also is responsible for the day-to-day running of all Sanctarian orders.

There are limits on membership, and these are currently 450, 1,000, and 5,000 for the grades of Commander, Officer, and Member respectively. Members are entitled to use the appropriate post-nominals associated with their grade within the order. Appointees hold the honour until their death, though honours may be stripped from individuals for serious conduct unbecoming, including but not limited to treason, murder, or sexual violence.

Honourary members may be appointed; these are generally heads of state of government from foreign nations. Honourary members do not count towards the membership limits, and if using the post-nominals must use the initialisation HC (honoris causa) alongside it e.g. CMD(HC).