The Grand Order of Queen Jelena, or more fully the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Sash and Morning Star (Velered kraljice Jelene s lentom i Danicom), is an order of the Republic of Croatia. It was established in 1995. It ranks second in the Croatian order of precedence after the Grand Order of King Tomislav. The order, along with the Grand Order of King Petar Krešimir IV, is awarded to dignitaries, other state officials and heads of international organizations for their contributions to the international reputation and status of the Republic of Croatia; to Croatian and foreign statesmen and parliamentary and government leaders for exceptional contributions to the independence and integrity of the Republic of Croatia, the development and construction of the Republic of Croatia, and for their personal exceptional contributions to the development of relationships between Croatia and the Croatian people and other countries and peoples; and to senior armed forces officers for exceptional contributions in the formulation of military strategy and doctrine, for merit in developing the Croatian armed forces, and for particular accomplishment in the leadership and command of the Croatian armed forces. It is named after Queen Helen I of Croatia.

Description

The badge of the order is a blue trefoil edged in gold. The trefoil is topped by a crown in the form of the upper part of the Croatian coat of arms (five shields representing the five geographical regions that comprise Croatia) with the words "KRALJICE JELENE" at the base. The badge is suspended from a sash of equal stripes of blue, white and red, with an interwoven wattle pattern on the red and blue stripes. The star of the order has the badge above on a star with eight longer and eight shorter silver rays, with gold rays between.

Notable recipients

Foreign officials

Croatian dignitaries