Ethiopia, Imperial Order of the Queen of Sheba, Knight Grade.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
The Order was instituted in 1922 during the reign of Empress Zauditu but it was seldom awarded, if at all, until the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1930. The Order was originally intended for ladies, particularly, in senior ranks, of the Imperial house and of foreign royal families, and awarded in five classes. However, there seems some doubt whether the Order was ever officially awarded other than in Grand Cross rank and it is possible that badges in other ranks were produced in Addis Ababa from the original dies after the overthrow of the Emperor by a Marxist military junta in 1974
