The Order of Skanderbeg (Albanian: Urdhëri i Skënderbeut) was instituted in 1925 as an Order of Merit of the Republic of Albania. It was abolished by the Communist government in 1945 and replaced by a new award of the same name. Skanderbeg is the national hero of the Albanian people.
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The Communist version of the Order was created on 13 October 1945 with three classes. The medal design incuded an image of Skanderbeg on a five pointed star and the ribbons were red with 1 to 3 blue stripes according to class of award.
It was awarded to officers of the Albanian Peoples Army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a recognition of services to the country and the people for the organization, modernisation and reinforcement of the armed forces.
The president and later king of Albania, Ahmet Zogu founded the order as an order with four grades. After the Italian annexation of Albania his successor, Victor Emanuel III, King of Italy and of Albania, Emperor of Ethiopia, added a fifth grade, Officer, in 1940.
In 1945 the People's Republic of Albania decided to abolish the order. In that same year a new order with the same name was founded, along the lines of the Socialist Orders of Merit, with three grades. It was awarded until the fall of Albanian Communism in 1990. Another honorary award bearing Skanderbeg's name, Skanderbeg's Order, has been instituted by the current Albanian Republic.