Order of the Black Star

Ordre de l'Étoile Noire
	The Grand Croix badge, ribbon and plaque
Type	Order with five degrees:; Grand-croix ; Commandeur avec plaque ; Commandeur; Officier ; Chevalier
Presented by	France Benin
Status	Deprecated 3 December 1963 by the Ordre National du Mérite
Established	1 December 1889
Precedence
Next (higher)	Médaille militaire
Equivalent	Ordre national du Mérite
Next (lower)	Croix de guerre

The Order of the Black Star (Ordre de l'Étoile Noire) was an order of knighthood established on 1 December 1889 at Porto-Novo by Toffa, future king of Dahomey (today the Republic of Benin). Approved and recognised by the French government on 30 July 1894, after the establishment of the new statutes of 30 August 1892, according this distinction to all those who worked to develop French influence on the west coast of Africa.

Classes

The order has five classes: Grand-croix (grand cross), Commandeur avec plaque (commander with plaque), Commandeur (commander), Officier (officer), and Chevalier (knight).

	Grand-croix
	Grand Officier
	Commandeur
	Officier
	Chevalier

The order was deprecated by decree on 3 December 1963, and superseded by the Ordre National du Mérite. Extant members of the order are permitted to wear their original decorations.

References

Marc Champenois (9 August 2008). "Ordre de l'Étoile noire". Les décorations Francaises (in French). Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-06.

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