Difference between revisions of "Illustrious Antarctic Order of the Orca"

The '''Illustrious Antarctic Order of the Orca''', commonly referred to simply as the '''Order of the Orca''' is the highest [[Orders of Westarctica|Order of Westarctica]]. The intention of the Order is to honor those who have provided a lifetime of service and dedication to [[Westarctica]] and its ideals. The order was formally established on 10 July 2019.

In late 2018, as part of [[Grand Duke of Westarctica|Grand Duke]] [[Grand Duke Travis|Travis']] focus on building a greater sense of community within the nation, he approved the creation of a new Order, to serve as the highest honor he could bestow upon a Westarctican citizen. At that time, the [[Order of the Snowflake]] was the only Order readily available for awarding to Westarctican citizens, due to the specific natures of the other Orders. After conferring with advisors, Grand Duke Travis decided to establish another knighthood for Westarctica that would be more exclusively reserved for Westarctican citizens.  

Inspiration for the Order was taken from the United Kingdom's Order of the Garter. The Order was officially established on 10 July 2019 and the first awards were presented at [[MicroCon 2019]].

As the Illustrious Antarctic Order of the Orca is a chivalric order, membership is conferred at the sole discretion of the Sovereign. The [[Royal Council]] may make recommendations, but the Sovereign is under no obligation to heed them. All members of the order are entitled to attach the post-nominal "KtO" following their name.

The Order only has a single official rank: Dame/Knight of the Orca, which is limited to 14 regular members, who are appointed for life. These are sometimes referred to as numerary members. While there is no specific criteria, these members are intended to be those citizens who have provided the greatest services to the nation. This is often measured as a body of work across years or even a lifetime. There is no minimum number of knights or dames the order must have, but the accepted wisdom is that vacancies should be filled as worthy candidates are identified.

The other category of supernumerary Order members, Stranger Dames and Knights, is limited to 7 living persons, in addition to the 14 regular members. This category is for non-Westarctican citizens. This is primarily utilized for Heads of State, in recognition of its closest [[Foreign relations of Westarctica|allied nations]], but may be bestowed to any foreigner. Like with regular Dames and Knights, there is no minimum number of members, but numerary vacancies should be given priority.

The reverse of the medallion bears the words "GRAND DUCHY OF WESTARCTICA" the Roman numeralization of the year the Order was established (MMXIX), and the membership number of the awardee, in Arabic numerals (i.e. ''01''). Although they are bestowed a membership number, just as a regular Knight or Dame, supernumerary members are denoted by a letter; ''-R'' for Royal and ''-S'' for Stranger.

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