ORDER OF THE CROWN OF ITALY

. GRAND OFFICER (2nd CLASS) BREAST STAR 1868 - 1946. The Order of the Crown of Italy (Italian: Ordine della Corona d'Italia or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civilian and military merit. Today the Order of the Crown has been replaced by the Order of Merit of Savoy and is still conferred on new knights by the current head of the house of Emanuele Filiberto, Prince of Venice. The order has been suppressed by law since the foundation of the Republic in 1946.