Order of Smile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Order of Smile (Polish Order Uśmiechu) is an international award given to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children. Established in 1968 by Kurier Polski, a Polish magazine, it was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1979. Today, the order is awarded by an independent Chapter of the Order of Smile consisting of more than 50 adult people from more than a dozen countries.
Candidates for the award may only be nominated by children, which makes it the only international award granted by minors. The Chapter then decorates the knight of the Order of Smile with a badge depicting a smiling yellow sun. During the ceremony, the knight is also supposed to drink a glass of lemon juice with a smile on his face.
Knights and dames of the Order of Smile include among others: Hillary and Bill Clinton, Dalai Lama XIV, Tove Jansson, John Paul II, Jolanta and Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Astrid Lindgren, Mother Teresa, Joanne Rowling, Sarah Ferguson, Queen Silvia of Sweden, Steven Spielberg and Peter Ustinov, as well as many less famous people (teachers, priests, doctors, etc.).
Before 1989, the Order was not always given by children without some control of adults. In the 1980s, the Communist party wanted to brighten the friendship with the Soviet Union. One of the knights of these times was Mikhail Gorbachev, then a Soviet leader.
In 2002, a small museum of the order was opened in Rabka, a spa in southern Poland.
