What the letters after a name mean

The Order is divided into nine grades. Grade I is the highest; Grade IX is the grade at which membership usually begins. The letters end in LJ, for the Latin Lazari Hierosolymitani, of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem.

The letters may be used to indicate a grade in the Order on any occasion connected with its work, and in biographical publications. Admission or promotion to a grade confers no rank, title, dignity or social precedence.

A minister of the Christian religion admitted to the Order may, if he so wishes, use the ecclesiastical style of his grade.

An award of merit is given to a Member of the Order who, in the opinion of the Grand Council and the Knights in Council of the Grand Priory, has performed a service of special merit for the Order or for society. It is held alongside the member’s grade, for example KLJ KMLJ. No member may receive a merit award higher than his or her own grade.

An award of merit may also be given to a person who is not a Member of the Order for a special service to the Order or to society. The names of those so honoured are recorded on a list kept by the Registrar General.

The Oak Leaf of Merit recognises especially meritorious service. It has three grades, and all three may be granted by the Knights in Council.

In the medieval Order, Knights of Justice proved noble descent. By an act of 1624 the Order created the grade of Knight of Grace, conferred for personal qualities and service without any requirement of birth. Both lines survive today in the knightly grades, from Grade I to Grade VI.

The officers of the Grand Priory of Bulgaria are Knights of Grace.

The badge of the Order is the green eight-pointed cross. Knights and Dames wear it on a green ribbon at the neck, and holders of the higher grades add a breast star. At ceremonies members wear a black mantle bearing the Order’s green cross.

On admission each new member receives a brevet and certificate, the insignia of the grade and a book on the history of the Order.

Members wear the insignia of the Order only at its own functions, or where the host institution recognises and welcomes them, in keeping with the requirements of the governments of the countries where the Order is active. State orders may be worn with them; any other decoration requires prior permission from the office of the Grand Chancellor.

With a dinner jacket only one star is worn and the broad riband is left off. The collar of the Order is not worn with evening dress, a dinner jacket or a lounge suit. Ladies wear the badge on a bow and the full-length riband over the right shoulder.