8 JOMSA

On January 3, 1949, the Ethiopian Ambassador forwarded to General Eisenhower the certificate that accompanied the award (Figure 9) and noted in his covering letter that the certificate was signed by His Majesty, the Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia testifying that, the “Order of Solomon” has been conferred by the Ethiopian Government on 10th September, 1948, upon your Excellency in recognition of your able leadership as commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in World War II.

The certificate states (in English):

The Lion of Judah has prevailedHaile Selassie I

Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia

The Second World War ending inVictory finds the famous war leader’s work finished

Through a display of practicality, great courage,Ingeniousness, collaboration and understanding.

To General Dwight Eisenhower, UnitedStates Commanding General, Grand

Cordon of the Order of Solomon, We grant with great pleasure the award.

Given at the Royal Palace, Addis Ababa10th September, 1947

Official Minister”

The final letter in the correspondence concerning this award to General Eisenhower is dated December 12, 1950 - a letter from General Eisenhower’s representives to the Ethiopian Consulate in New York stated “he does not have in his possession a ribbon representing the decoration. Can one be obtained?”

Detailed regulations for the Order of Solomon for the period are not available, but on April 20, 1954, a decree concerning insignia regulations was issued. Extracts from the regulations for the Order of Solomon note that the order is made up of a Collar and five additional classes.

The Collar - It is the highest distinction and is reserved to the Emperor and the Empress of Ethiopia, except that as a mark of special regard on the part of the Emperor it may be conferred upon members of the Imperial Family and upon sovereigns of foreign countries; and further upon persons who have rendered exceptionally meritorious services.

Grand Cordon - The Cordon of the Order of Solomon may be conferred upon Sovereigns, members of Royal Houses, and upon persons who have rendered meritorious services. The Cordon has a green ribbon.

Figure 6: The obverse of General Eisenhower’s breast star (95.3mm x 95.3mm;

weight 127gms).Courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower

Presidential Library and Museum.

Figure 7: The reverse of the breast star in Figure 4.

Figure 8: Presentation case maker’s mark.Courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower

Presidential Library and Museum.

Vol. 65, No. 2 (March-April 2014) 9

Attached to the border of the ribbon and suspended there from is a badge, 55mm in diameter, made with six points in the shape of the seal of Solomon. In the centre is the device of the Cross, and at the top of the Cross the device of a Crown. The Plaque is in the shape of a regular octagon, ninety millimeters in diameter. Upon the octagon is the device of a Cross. Upon the

eight facets of the circumference are forty-eight points spreading out like rays. The Plaque is worn on the left breast. The number of members of this Class shall not exceed ten.

Grand Officer - The number of members of this Class shall not exceed twenty.

Figure 9: The certificate of Order of Solomon presented to General Eisenhower.Courtesy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

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Commander - The numbers of members of this Class shall not exceed twenty-five.

Officer - The numbers of members of this Class shall not exceed thirty-five.

Chevalier - The numbers of members of this Class shall not exceed forty-five.

The history of the order dates back to Emperor Tewodros (Theodore) who in 1868 proposed the institution of such an order in three classes, however his defeat by the British and his suicide at the Battle of Magdala forestalled this initiative. During the reign of the subsequent Emperor, Johannes IV (John) (1872-1889), the award was instituted and a badge of the order was presented in 1874 to Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII of Great Britain. With the accession of Emperor Menelik II in 1889, who previously as King of Shoa had already instituted the Order of the Star, the Order of Solomon continued to be awarded. In 1895 Menelik sent the Order of Solomon with a mission to be presented to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and in 1897 he bestowed the Order upon his Swiss political adviser Alfred Ilg.

A 4th class insigina of the order was awarded to Jemadar (Indian army rank corresponding to Lieutenant) Mahmoud Khan of Aden Troop of the 1897 British Military Mission; the senior members of the mission all received the Order of the Star. Later in his reign, (which was marred by illness and incapacitation), awards of both orders were sparse. One of Menelik’s last bestowals of the Order of Solomon was to his Greek court artist, George Prokopiou, who received the order in 1905. The accession in 1916 of his daughter Empress Zawditu (Judith), who reigned from 1916 to 1930, and her consort and second cousin Ras Tafarai Makonnen, Regent, (later Haile Selassie) allowed a revival of both the Order of the Star and the Order of Solomon. Emperor Haile Selassie in his autobiography notes,

Up to 1915 (Ethiopian calendar corresponding to 1922) the Star of Solomon and of Ethiopia were the only two kinds of medals. But now We caused a gold chain to be made for the Solomon order and it was to be awarded to foreign kings who had the rank corresponding to that of Emperor.

With this revision and the institution of the orders of the Queen of Sheba, Menelik II, and the Holy Trinity, the Order of the Star Solomon became the senior order of state. In 1935 the Order of Solomon, with collar, was presented to King George V. The invasion and subsequent occupation of Ethiopia by Italy from 1936

to 1942 and the exile in Great Britain of Emperor Haile Selassie led to a suspension in the bestowal of decorations. The liberation of Ethiopia by allied forces culminated in the surrender of Italian forces in January 1942, and Haile Selassie was restored to the throne. A Supplement to the London Gazette of May 27, 1949 noted the award of many Ethiopian decorations to British Forces in acknowledgement of their role in the liberation of Ethiopia.

Figure 10: Field-Marshal Montgomery; the ribbon ot the Order of Solomon is the last ribbon.

In addition to the award to General Eisenhower, Haile Selassie also bestowed the Order on British Field-Marshal Montgomery (Figure 10). His award in its presentation case (Figure 11) is on display, on loan from the family with his other awards, at the Imperial War Museum in London. The museum, with the permission of the family, kindly allowed me to examine and take pictures of his Order of Solomon (Figures 12 to 15). Unfortunately there is no documentation available concerning the bestowal of the Order; however official notice of the award was made in the Third Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, March 22, 1949, page 1529, where it was noted:

The KING has been pleased to grant unrestricted permission for the wearing of the following decorations which have been conferred on the under mentioned personnel in recognition of distinguished services in the cause of the Allies:

Decoration conferred by His Majesty the Emperor of