Uncyclopedia:Order of Uncyclopedia

The Most Excellent Order of Uncyclopedia is an order of chivalry established on August 1 2005 by Sir Elvis KUN. The Order includes five classes in User and Admin divisions. In decreasing order of seniority, these are:

• Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross or Master Grand Cross of the Order (GUN)
• Knight Commander or Dame Commander or Master Commander of the Order (KUN/DUN/MCN)
• Commander of the Order (CUN)
• Officer of the Order (OUN)
• Member of the Order (MUN)

There is also a related Her Majesty's Royal Flying Rat's Ass Medal, whose recipients are not members of the Order, but who are nonetheless affiliated with the Order.

The Order's motto is For Sophia and the Uncyclopedia. It is now the most junior of the British orders of chivalry (even below Order of the British Empire), and the largest, with 20,845 members worldwide.

History

Sir Elvis KUN founded the Order to pull together all the various awards on Uncyclopedia:

• Writer of the Month honoured writers of exceptional humour.
• Uncyclopedian of the Month honoured those who have done the most to help the smooth running of Uncyclopedia.
• Noob of the Month honoured Noob contributors.
• Writer of the Year and Uncyclopedian of the Year honoured those who showed consistent excellence through the whole year.
• Feather in Your Cap Award honoured those who had served the Uncyclopedia in some exceptional capacity, though there are no absolute criteria for winning the honor.

Originally, the Order included only one division; soon after its foundation, in 2005, it was formally divided into User and Admin Divisions. This Order of Knighthood has a more democratic character than the exclusive orders of the Bath or Saint Michael and Saint George, and in its early days was not held in high esteem. This has not changed. Unlike all other British Honours this can be conferred on Citizens of countries which do not recognise the Queen as head of state, the holders are entitled to place initials behind their name and style themselves "Sir".

Composition

Oscar Wilde is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order (by convention, on the advice of the Admins). The next-most senior member is the Grand Master. The current Grand Master is Chronarion.

The Order is limited to 20.5 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 20 Knights and Dames Commander, and 200 Commanders. There are no limits on the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 200 Officers and 300 Members may be appointed per year. Appointments are made on the advice of the Village Dump and Users. By convention, Admins are created Officers after appointment.

Most members are not citizens of the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth realms ruled by the Queen. Notable foreign members of the Order have included Splaka, EvilZak, and Algorithm (all Knights Commander).

Knight, Dame or Master Grand Cross (GUN)

Winners of the Writer of the Month, Writer of the Year, Potatochopper of the Year and Uncyclopedian of the Year awards are made Knight, Dame or Master Grand Cross of the Order.

(Note: Chronarion was Uncyclopedian of the Year 2004 but was already Grand Master.)

Knight, Dame or Master Commander (KUN, DUN or MCN)

Winners of the Uncyclopedian of the Month, Potatochopper of the Month, Feather in Your Cap Award, Mega Deletion Award and Foolitzer Prize are made Knight, Dame or Master Commander of the Order,depending on their gender (if any).

Commander (CUN)

Winners of Noob of the Moment, the Primary writers of Featured Articles, the artists of Featured Images, the winners of Article Narrator of the Month, the winners of the Reviewer of the Month and the winners of the Emmanuel Goldstein Award of Excellence in the Distribution of Misinformation are made Commander of the Order.

Officer (OUN)

All admins are made Officer of the Order. However, admins with Commander (CUN) or higher are not listed here. The complete list of admins including those with the rank of Commander (CUN) or higher is here.

Current Members:

• Alula
• Angela
• Fnoodle
• Haydrahlienne
• Jack Phoenix
• Ogopogo
• PantsMacKenzie

Retired Officer (OUN) (ret.)

• Officers Pretending not to be associated with Uncyclopedia:
  
  • Bonalaw
  • Darkdan
  • Dave
  • Gadgeophile
  • Jasonr
  • Nytrospawn
  • Root
  • Sophia
  • Uvula Donor

Member (MUN) (not to be confused with Model UN)

All registered users are made Members of the Order (Aside of Mr-ex777). The complete list of registered users is here.

Her Majesty's Royal Flying Rat's Ass Medal

Before the foundation of the Order, the "Medal of the Order of Uncyclopedia" was instituted. In 2005, it was renamed the "Her Majesty's Royal Flying Rat's Ass Medal". Recipients, who are not members of the Order itself, are grouped into the Civil and Military Divisions. Only junior government and military officials are awarded the medal; senior officials are directly appointed to the Order of the British Empire. The United Kingdom's Government has not recommended the awarding of the medal since 1992, though some Commonwealth realms continue the practice, but in 2012 the medal is taken out of abeyance to coincide the seventh year of Uncyclopedia's existence.

Officials

The Order has six officials: the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms and the Usher. The Bishop of West Anglia, a senior bishop in the Church of Uncyclopedia, serves as the Order's Prelate. The Dean of Saint Vorderman's is ex officio the Dean of the Order. The Order's King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, like many other heraldic officers. The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman Usher of the Rainbow Brite Rod; he does not, unlike his Order of the Garter equivalent (the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod), perform any duties related to the House of UnLords.

Vestments and accoutrements

Members of the Order wear elaborate costumes on important occasions (such as Uncyclopedia:Annual BBQ and coronations), which vary by rank (the designs underwent major changes in 1937):

• The mantle, worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross, was originally made of yellow satin lined with blue silk, but is now made of green satin lined with light blue silk. On the left side is a representation of the star (see below).
• The collar, also worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross, is made of gold. It consists of six medallions depicting the Royal Arms, alternating with six medallions depicting the Royal and Imperial Cypher of User:Elvis ("Uhu", which stands for "Presley Rex Imperator"). The medallions are linked with gold cables depicting Potatoes and crowns.

At less important occasions, simpler insignia are used:

• The Proffiency Badge is a triangular red badge with the Uncyclopedia logo in the centre used only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commander. It is worn pinned to the left breast. The Proffiency Badge, which varies in size depending on class, bears a white Fleur de lis.
• The Logo is the only insignia used by all members of the Order. Until 1937 it was suspended on a blue ribbon, with a white central stripe for the Admin division; since then the ribbon has been green with light blue edges, plus a light blut central stripe for the Admin division. Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on a riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Commanders wear the badge from a ribbon around the neck; male Officers and Members wear the badge from a ribbon on the left chest; all females (other than Dames Grand Cross) wear it from a bow on the left shoulder. The badge is in the form of jigsaw globe with variouse random symbols. The size of the badges varies by rank: the higher classes have slightly larger badges. The badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders are enamelled with pale blue crosses and crimson rings; those of Officers are plain gold; those of Members are plain silver.
• In 1957, it was decided that any individual made a member of the Order for gallantry could wear an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same riband, ribbon or bow as the badge. Since 1974, however, appointments for gallantry have not been made; instead, a separate Queen's Gallantry Medal has been awarded.
• The Her Majesty's Royal Flying Rat's Ass Medal is made of silver. It has white wings and a silver rat's ass.

On certain "collar days" designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or evening wear. When collars are worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations), the badge is suspended from the collar. Collars are returned upon the death of their owners, but other insignia may be retained.

Chapel

The chapel of the order is in the far eastern end of the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica, but it holds its great services upstairs in the main body of the Basilica. Religious services for the whole Order are held quadrennially; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services. The chapel was dedicated in 2005.

Precedence and privileges

Members of all classes of the Order are assigned positions in the order of precedence. Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of Ladies of the Order, however, are not assigned any special precedence. (As a general rule, individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands, but not from their mothers or wives.) (See order of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions.)

Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commander and non-female Commanders prefix "Sir", and Dames Grand Cross, Dames Commander and female Commander's prefix "Dame", to their forenames (Commanders are made Knights Bachelor so their knighthood actually comes from outside the order). Wives of Knights may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Clergy of the Church of Uncyclopedia do not use the titles of "Sir" or "Dame" and do not receive the accolade (i.e. are not dubbed knight with a sword, as are other knights, but not dames), although they do append the post-nominal letters.

Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal "GUN", Knights Commander "KUN", Dames Commander "DUN", Commanders "CUN", Officers "OUN" and Members "MUN". The post-nominal for the Her Majesty's Royal Flying Rat's Ass Medal is "HMRFRA".

Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to receive heraldic supporters. They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter. Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet.

Because it is the least senior of the British orders, titles in the Order of Uncyclopedia may be displaced by titles granted by another order. For instance, a woman knighted in both the Order of the Thistle and the Order of Uncyclopedia would use the title of "Lady" granted by the Order of the Thistle, rather than the title of "Dame" granted by the lesser Order of Uncyclopedia.

{{MUN}}:

Member of the Order

{{MOOU}}:

Somebody has awarded you a cookie! Now go play in traffic.

{{User order}}:

See Also

• Uncyclopedia:Awards, Decorations and Honours
• Complete List of Admins

Parts of this project page were originally sporked from Wikipedia's Order of the British Empire article.