Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Coat of arms of Uruguay
Awarded for	Reciprocity reasons
Sponsored by	Presidency of Uruguay
Country	Uruguay
Established	August 28, 1992
First awarded	1993

The Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a distinction of Uruguay created by Law No. 16300 and awarded by the Presidency of the Republic at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to foreign personalities, by reason of the principle of protocol reciprocity.^[1]

The law by which it was created, on August 28, 1992, establishes that the executive power is authorized to mint the medal, with the objective that the Presidency, at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deliver it to foreign personalities with reasons reciprocity, previously reporting to the General Assembly, and entrusts the executive power with the regulation of the registration, design, ceremony and other matters of the medal.^[1] The regulation of the law was given by Decree No. 132/993 of March 16, 1993, which approves the Regulation of the Medal.^[2]

Characteristics

The distinction consists of the medal and the diploma.^[3] The medal is characterized by having on its forehead the national coat of arms, made of 24-karat gold-plated metal with dimensions of 65 millimeters high by 60 millimeters wide. Its Sun is carved, the laurel and olive leaves accompany the oval of the coat of arms in half a carved point, and its center have a "bulge", with white and blue enameled colors with a glass finish.^[3] The reverse of it contains the text "Oriental Republic of Uruguay" in relief and with a diameter of 41 millimeters, and in the center the text "Medal of the Republic" in relief, straight in three lines.^[3]

To reward the medal there is a public act directed by the president of the republic, who rewards the medal along with a diploma signed by himself. If award is not possible because the beneficiary is abroad, it can be done by a person designated by the executive power.^[3]

Recipients

Recipients	Rfs.
1993
Mexico – President Carlos Salinas de Gortari	[4]
Costa Rica – President Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier	[5]
1994
Spain – President of the Regional Government of Galicia Manuel Fraga Iribarne	[6]
Argentina – President Carlos Saúl Menem	[7]
1995
Poland – President Lech Wałęsa	[8]
Brazil – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso	[9]
Italy – President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro	[10]
Argentina – Ambassador Alicia Martínez Ríos	[11]
Bolivia – Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Aranibar Quiroga	[12]
Venezuela – President Rafael Caldera	[13]
Chile – Minister of Foreign Affairs José Miguel Insulza Salinas	[14]
Paraguay – Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis María Ramírez Boettner	[15]
Mexico – Secretary of Foreign Affairs José Ángel Gurría Treviño	[16]
1996
Lithuania – President Algirdas Brazauskas	[17]
Brazil – Ambassador Renato Prado Guimaraes	[18]
United Nations – Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization Jacques Diouf	[19]
Romania – President Ion Iliescu	[20]
Paraguay – President Juan Carlos Wasmosy	[21]
Chile – President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle	[22]
Malaysia – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad	[23][24]
Mexico – President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León	[25]
France – President Jacques Chirac	[26]
Brazil – Vice President Marco Maciel	[27]
Malaysia – King Ja'afar of Negeri Sembilan	[28]
Spain – King Juan Carlos I	[29]
Spain – Queen Sofía
Czech Republic – President Václav Havel	[30]
Panama – Minister of Foreign Affairs Ricardo Alberto Arias Arias	[31]
Panama – President Ernesto Pérez Balladares	[32]
Spain – Minister of Foreign Affairs Abel Matutes Juan	[33]
South Africa – Ambassador Vaughan C. R. Dewing	[34]
1997
Spain – Viscount of the Castle of Almasa Fernando de Almasa	[35]
Belgium – Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene	[36]
Paraguay – Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Affairs Antonio Félix López Acosta	[37]
Brazil – Minister of Foreign Affairs Luiz Felipe Lampreia	[38]
Brazil – Minister of Transport Alcides Saldanha	[39]
Brazil – Minister of Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade Francisco Neves Dornelles
Brazil – Minister of Mines and Energy Raimundo Mendes Brito
Brazil – Head of the Military House Alberto Mendes Cardoso
Brazil – Governor of Rio Grande do Sul Antônio Britto
Brazil – Governor of Sergipe Albano Franco
Brazil – Ambassador Gelson Fonseca Junior
Brazil – Ambassador Affonso Emilio de Alencastro Massot
Brazil – Ambassador Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves
Brazil – Ambassador Frederico Cezar de Araujo
Brazil – Director General of the Federal Police Vicente Chelotti
Brazil – General Director of the Department of Latin American Integration Renato Luiz Rodrigues Marques
Brazil – Valter Pecly Moreira
Brazil – Marcos Borges Duprat Ribeiro
Brazil – Paulo Cesar de Olivera Campos
Brazil – Marcio Nunes Cambraia
Brazil – Undersecretary of Communications Ana Elisa Tavares de Miranda
Brazil – Colonel Walter Justus
Brazil – Colonel José Elito Carvalho
Brazil – Diplomat Luiz Gilberto Seixas de Andrade
Brazil – Diplomat María Luiza Ribeiro Viotti
Brazil – Diplomat Sérgio Danese
Brazil – Diplomat Virgínia Bernardes de Souza Toniatti
Brazil – Diplomat Virgínia Bernardes de Souza Toniatti
Brazil – Edelcio José Ansarah
Brazil – Roberto Abdala
Brazil – Lieutenant Commander Carlos Alberto de Souza Filho
Brazil – Major Ricardo Borges
Brazil – Diplomat José Humberto de Brito Cruz
Brazil – Diplomat Carlos Alexandre Ferreira
Brazil – Diplomat Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares
Brazil – Diplomat Alan Coelho de Séllos
Brazil – Diplomat Marco Antonio Nakata
Portugal – Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaime Gama	[40]
Portugal – Prime Minister Antonio Guterres	[41]
France – Minister of Culture Philippe Douste-Blazy	[42]
France – Minister of State Michel Barnier
France – Delegate Minister of Finance and Foreign Trade Yves Galland
France – Ambassador Jean-Francois Nougarede
France – Senator Xavier de Villepin
France – Secretary General to the President Dominique de Villepin
France – MP Nicole Catala
France – President of the France-Uruguay Friendship Group Michel Inchauspe
France – President of the France-South America Friendship Group Roland du Luart
Ecuador – Minister of Foreign Affairs José Ayala Lasso	[43]
Ecuador – Coordinator of Diplomatic Affairs of the Presidency Gustavo Cordovez Pareja
Ecuador – Director of Protocol Miguel Vazco
Ecuador – President Fabián Alarcón Rivera	[44]
France – Co-organizer of the 1998 World Cup Michel Platini	[45]
France – Diplomatic Counselor of the Presidency Jean-David Levitte
France – Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna
France – Chief of Cabinet of France Annie Lheritier
France – Ambassador Daniel Jouanneau
European Union – Vice-President of the European Commission Manuel Marín	[46]
Argentina – Ambassador Benito Llambí	[47]
1999
Austria – Ambassador Peter Müller	[48]
2000
International Olympic Committee – President Juan Antonio Samaranch	[49]
Brazil – Ambassador Luiz Augusto de Araujo Castro	[50]
Paraguay – President Luis Angel González Macchi	[51]
Chile – President Ricardo Lagos Escobar	[52]
2001
Italy – President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi	[53]
Italy – Minister of Foreign Affairs Lamberto Dini	[54]
Costa Rica – Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Rojas	[55]
Guatemala – Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabriel Orellana	[56]
Costa Rica – President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría	[57]
Dominican Republic – President Hipólito Mejía Domínguez	[58]
El Salvador – Minister of Foreign Affairs María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila	[59]
Argentina – Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Adalberto Rodríguez Giavarini	[60]
2002
Argentina – Consul Julio Lascano y Vedia	[61]
United Nations – Director-General of the World Trade Organization Mike Moore	[62]
Organization of American States – Director of the Pan American Health Organization George Alleyne	[63]
Brazil – Ambassador Francisco Thompson Flores	[64]
Ecuador – Minister of Foreign Affairs Heinz Moeller	[65]
Spain – Minister of Defense Federico Trillo Figueroa	[66]
2003
Brazil – Head of Ceremonial of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ruy de Lima Casaes e Silva	[67]
Brazil – Undersecretary for South American Affairs Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares Guimaraes	[68]
Brazil – Director-General of the Department of the Americas Antonino Lisboa Mena Goncalves	[69]
Argentina – Ambassador Hernán Patiño Mayer	[70]
Argentina – President Eduardo Alberto Duhalde	[71]
Argentina – Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ruckauf	[72]
Argentina – Former Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Alfredo Atanasof	[73]
Italy – Minister of Defense Antonio Martino – (Grand Officer)	[74]
Italy – Secretary General of the Presidency Gaetano Gifuni – (Grand Officer)	[75]
Italy – Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni – (Grand Officer)	[76]
Italy – Head of Ceremonial of the Presidency Filippo Romano – (Commander)	[77]
Italy – Ambassador Giorgio Malfatti di Montetretto – (Commander)	[78]
Italy – Sub-secretary of the Foreign Ministry Mario Baccini – (Grand Officer)	[79]
Italy – President of Lombardy Roberto Formigoni – (Grand Officer)	[80]
Italy – Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi – (Grand Cordon)	[81]
Italy – Honorary Consul of Tuscany Silvio Fancellu – (Officer)	[82]
Italy – President of the Chamber of Deputies Pier Ferdinando Casini – (Grand Cordon)	[83]
Italy – Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini – (Grand Officer)	[84]
Italy – President of the Senate Marcello Pera – (Grand Cordon)	[85]
Italy – Director of the South America Office Giorgio Di Pietrogiacomo – (Commander)	[86]
Italy – President of Tuscany Claudio Martini – (Grand Officer)	[87]
China – Head of the AQSIQ Li Changjiang – (Grand Officer)	[88]
Colombia – President Álvaro Uribe Vélez – (Grand Cordon)	[89]
2004
India – Chairman of Tata Group Ratan Tata – (Commander)	[90]
Brazil – Minister of Defense José Viegas Filho	[91]
Brazil – Gobernor of Rio Grande do Sul Germano Rigotto	[92]
Italy – Honorary Consul of Uruguay in Padua-Venice Angelo Ferro	[93]
United States – Ambassador Martin J. Silverstein	[94]
United States – Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board William Joseph McDonough	[95]
United States – Executive Vice President of the International Affairs and Emerging Markets Group Terrence Checki
Argentina – Ambassador delegate in the negotiations of the Rio de la Plata Treaty Guillermo de la Plaza	[96]
2005
United States – Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs John B. Taylor	[97]
2006
China – Ambassador Wang Yongzhan	[98]
Brazil – Ambassador Eduardo Dos Santos	[99]
Chile – President Michelle Bachelet	[100]
Venezuela – President Hugo Chávez Frías	[101]
France – Ambassador Laurent Joseph Rapin	[102]
Chile – Ambassador Carlos Appelgren	[103]
Bolivia – Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca	[104]
Paraguay – Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano	[105]
2009
Qatar – Ambassador to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser	[106]
European Union – Former Head of the Delegation of the European Communities to the GATT Van-Thinh Paul Trân	[107]
2011
United Nations – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon	[108]
2012
Argentina – Member of the National Academy of Fine Arts Nicolás García Uriburu	[109]
2016
France – President François Hollande	[110]
China – Foreign Minister Wang Yi	[111]
China – Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng	[112]
China – Minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Zhi Shuping	[113]
Chile – Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela – (Grand Officer)	[114]
2017
Bolivia – President of the CAF – Development Bank of Latin America L. Enrique Garcia	[115]
2018
Mexico – President Enrique Peña Nieto	[116]
Brazil – Ambassador Hadil Fontes da Rocha Vianna	[117]
Japan – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe	[118]
China – Foreign Minister Wang Yi	[119]
2019
United Nations – Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization José Graziano da Silva	[120]