The Royal honors system was the means by which the Sovereign of the Golden Empire could formally recognize significant contributions to the Empire's government and military service, culture, and society.
Order of precedence[]
The Royal honors system was structured to place higher emphasis on military achievement than any other form of service.
Royalty and nobility[]
Membership in the Royal Family of the Golden Empire was the most prestigious standing in the Empire. Members of the Royal Family were ineligible for any other decorations, as royalty was considered "above" decoration. Though the vast majority of the Royal Family was composed of blood relatives of the Sovereign, in theory anyone could be "adopted" into the Royal Family. Early examples included Andromeda Keane, a distant relative of Rin Sakaros, and Breek Zagrev, who became a Princess after marrying Phoenix Prince Tariun Sakaros.
The rank of Viscount was created to recognize "unparalleled contributions to the defense or society of the Golden Empire". It was the Empire's only rank of nobility at its inception. Unlike royalty, Viscounts were eligible for lower awards as well. All Viscounties were life peerages, and thus not inherited when the original recipient died.
The Crown of Deliverance[]
The Crown of Deliverance was the highest decoration available below nobility, and was open to any citizen who, through his own actions above and beyond the call of duty, saved an entire army or fleet from destruction. It was the Empire's only coronal order.
Military orders and decorations[]
The following decorations were awarded only to military personnel. Several individual decorations had unit equivalents, all of which always ranked lower than the lowest individual award of the same category (e.g., the Valorous Unit Award, the highest unit award for combat valor, ranked below the Medal of Fortitude, the lowest individual decoration for combat valor). The Hero of the Golden Empire, the Cross of Keltrayu, and the Sovereign's Order were only awarded individually.
| Complete name | Ranks / Letters | Ribbon | Awarded for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero of the Golden Empire | HGE | 
|
"a servicebeing who performs an action of extraordinary heroism, in the face of the enemy, at the risk of death, above and beyond the call of duty" |
| Cross of Keltrayu | CK | 
|
"a servicebeing who, in the face of the enemy, intentionally sacrifices his life to save the lives of fellow soldiers in a display of conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty" |
| Star of Valor | SV | 
|
"a servicebeing who performs an action of gallantry, in the face of the enemy, at the risk of death, above and beyond the call of duty, not meeting the criteria of Hero of the Golden Empire" |
| Sovereign's Order |
Commander (CSO) |
  
|
|
| Medal of Courage | None | 
|
"a servicebeing who performs an action of heroism, in the face of the enemy, above and beyond the call of duty, not meeting the criteria of the Star of Valor" |
| Medal of Fortitude | None | 
|
"a servicebeing who performs an act of conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty, either not in the face of the enemy or otherwise not meeting the criteria of the Medal of Courage" |
| Valorous Unit Ribbon | None | 
|
"conspicuous gallantry in the face of the enemy, above and beyond the call of duty" |
| Courageous Unit Ribbon | None | 
|
"collective heroism in the face of the enemy, above and beyond the call of duty" |
| Heroic Unit Ribbon | None | 
|
"Collective and conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty" |
| Sacrifice Medal | None | 
|
"servicebeings wounded or killed due to enemy action" |
| Lifesaving Medal, First Class | None | 
|
"a servicebeing who, through action above and beyond the call of duty, in the face of the enemy, saves the life of a fellow citizen of the Golden Empire" |
|
Royal Navy Superior Service Medal |
None |   
|
"Superior service not meriting the Sovereign's Order" |
| Royal Navy Meritorious Service Medal Royal Army Meritorious Service Medal Royal Starfighter Corps Meritorious Service Medal |
None |   
|
"Exceptionally meritorious performance of duty not meriting the Superior/Distinguished Service Medal" |
| Ace's Comet | None |  
|
Achieving five or more confirmed kills in starfighter combat (RSC only) Numeral "1" available to designate "Ace in a Day" |
| Lifesaving Medal, Second Class | None | 
|
"a servicebeing who, through heroic action above and beyond the call of duty, saves the life of a citizen of the Golden Empire" |
| Distinguished Conduct Medal | None | 
|
"clearly distinguished and meritorious performance of duty not meriting the award of a higher decoration" |
| Royal Commendation Medal | None | 
|
"performance of duty meriting recognition and commendation before all servicebeings, but not meriting the Distinguished Conduct Medal" |
| Royal Navy Superior Unit Ribbon Royal Army Distinguished Unit Ribbon Royal Starfighter Corps Superior Unit Ribbon |
None |   
|
"Unit-wide service of a clearly superior nature" (Navy and RSC) "Unit-wide service of a clearly superior and distinguished nature" (Army) |
| Royal Navy Meritorious Unit Ribbon Royal Army Meritorious Unit Ribbon Royal Starfighter Corps Meritorious Unit Ribbon |
None |   
|
"exceptionally meritorious, unit-wide performance of duty" |
| Distinguished Unit Ribbon | None | 
|
"clearly distinguished and meritorious performance of duty by a unit" |
| Commended Unit Ribbon | None | 
|
"unit-wide performance of duty meriting recognition and commendation" |
| Escape Medal | None | 
|
"a prisoner of war who escaped from captivity by the enemy without being rescued" |
| Liberation of Quadia Medal | None | 
|
"Direct participation in hostilities related to the Liberation of Quadia" |
| Great Liberation Medal | None | 
|
"Direct participation in hostilities with the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob or its allied forces during the Great Liberation" |
| Vagaari War Medal | None |  
|
"Direct participation in hostilities with the Vagaari Empire or its allied forces during the Vagaari War" Nikina device awarded for service behind enemy lines with Aria Nikina |
| Ssi-ruuvi Incursion Medal | None | 
|
"Direct participation in hostilities with the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium or its allied forces during the Ssi-ruuvi Incursion" |
| Nightmare War Medal | None | 
|
"Direct participation in hostilities with the enemy or its allied forces during the Nightmare War" |
| Defense of the Empire Medal | None | 
|
"Direct participation in hostilities involved in the defense of the Golden Empire against internal threats" |
| Border Campaign Medal | None | 
|
"Direct participation in hostilities involved in campaigns which expand the Golden Empire" |
| Massassi Guard Medal | None | 
|
"Honorable service in a Massassi Guard unit for three years" |
| Keltrayu's Tomb Guard Medal | None | 
|
"Honorable service as a guard at Keltrayu's Tomb for two years" |
Civilian orders and decorations[]
The following awards were issued for civilian service to various aspects of the Empire's society. Tariun and Rin Sakaros deliberately associated the title "Knight" only with non-military awards to divorce it from any sense of martial ability in the minds of civilians, in order to create an inherent lack of military respect for Jedi Knights among the Empire's citizens. Civilians honored with a certain grade of an award could be upgraded to a higher grade.
| Complete name | Ranks / Letters | Ribbon | Awarded to | Awarded for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order of the Phoenix | Superior (SOP) Knight (KOP) Companion (COP) Member (OP) |
   
|
Civilian government personnel | "outstanding contributions to the Empire's civilian service" |
| Royal Service Order | Superior (SRSO) Knight (KRSO) Companion (CRSO) Member (RSO) |
   
|
Civil servants | "meritorious performance of duty with distinction in the Empire's civil service" |
| Order of Distinction | Knight (KOD) Companion (COD) Member (OD) |
  
|
Civilians (not government personnel) | "meritorious service to the Royal government" |
| Order of Merit | First Class (1OM) Second Class (2OM) Third Class (3OM) Fourth Class (4OM) Fifth Class (5OM) |
    
|
Civilians | "especially meritorious contribution to society by achievement in the arts, science, industry, education, or philanthropy" |
Investiture[]
All new members of the Royal Family were crowned personally by the Sovereign, and new nobles were invested by the Sovereign or a Royal Executor acting on her behalf.
Military decorations were approved by the various High Commands of the Glorious Armada, with the exception of the Hero of the Golden Empire (which required the approval of the Prime Legate) and the Crown of Deliverance (which could only be approved by the Sovereign). Most awards were delivered by high-ranking commanders, again with the exceptions of the Hero and the Crown; the Prime Legate, a Royal Executor, or the Sovereign had to award the Hero of the Golden Empire, and only the Sovereign personally could award the Crown of Deliverance.
All civilian orders were issued in the name of and with the approval of the Sovereign, but she rarely presented them herself. The majority were presented on her behalf by Consuls, though Rin Sakaros occasionally delegated the responsibility to other members of the Royal Family. Receiving even the Superior of the Order of the Phoenix from the Sovereign herself was regarded by citizens as a prestigious honor.
Styles[]
Members of the Royal Family who were not blood relatives of the Sovereign were addressed "Your Highness". Viscounts and Viscountesses could be addressed by title or as "Lord" or "Lady".
Recipients of the Crown of Deliverance were styled "Lord" or "Lady". Heroes of the Golden Empire were addressed as "Hero". Recipients of all other military decorations were not styled, except those who received the Sovereign's Order. They and all recipients of civilian orders were styled "Sir" or "Lady".
Beings without male or female sexes defaulted to masculine forms of address.