Order of Zolfaghar
The Star and Ribbon of the Islamic Republic
Awarded by Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces
Type	Chivalric and dynastic order
Royal house	House of Pahlavi (formerly)
Ribbon	IRIA Zolfaghar Ribbon
Supreme Leader	Sayyid Ali Khamenei
Grades	Knight Grand Officer Knight Officer Knight
Precedence
Next (higher)	None (highest)
Next (lower)	Order of Fath
ribbon of the Islamic Republic ribbon of Imperial Persia & Iran

The Order of Zolfaghar (Persian: نشان ذوالفقار, Neshan-e Zolfaghar) is the highest military honour of Iran. It was established in 1856 as the Decoration of the Commander of the Faithful, by Naser al-Din Shah. It was given its current name in 1925, by Reza Shah. It is the pinnacle of the imperial honours system, limited to the sovereign and those who had performed outstanding acts of patriotism on behalf of Persia and Iran.

History

A military order of Imperial Persia and Iran was named after Zulfiqar, the two-pointed sword of Ali, the son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded as the Decoration of the Commander of the Faithful by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar in 1856, to commemorate the recapture of Herat. Reza Shah, the penultimate Shah of Iran, renamed it the Order of Zolfaghar in 1925 and made it an exclusively military order.

The original Star of the Order comprised an enameled five-pointed star, with an inscription representing the Imam Ali on a red boss in the center, mounted over two crossed curved Zolfaghar swords and a sunburst of rays, as seen in the traditional Lion and Sun symbol.

The Star of the Islamic Republic is larger, simpler and more stylised, comprising a golden eight-pointed star within a silver eight-pointed star; stylised inscriptions on the stars provide decoration and contrast.

The Order of Zolfaghar consists of three classes:

• 1st Class: worn with a badge and a sash
• 2nd Class: worn with a collar, as a neck-order
• 3rd Class: worn as a medal.

It was revived in 2019 when Major General Qasem Soleimani received the decoration, the first time it had been awarded since 1979.^[1]