Order of the National Hero

The Order of the National Hero is the highest honour awarded by the government of Belize. As stipulated by the National Honours and Awards Act, 1991, instituted on 16 August 1991, it is bestowed for "extraordinary and outstanding achievement and merit in service to Belize or to humanity at large." It can be awarded posthumously. The act was revised in 2000.

The act states that the name of the recipient is to published in the Belize Government Gazette. The award is generally bestowed on Belize's Independence Day, 21 September, but can be conferred at other times.

There have been two recipients: George Cadle Price (1919–2011), in September 2000; and Philip Goldson (1923–2001), posthumously in September 2008.

Price co-founded the People's United Party (PUP) in 1950 and became its leader in 1956. He served the British in what was then British Honduras, as a member of the Legislative Council, mayor of Belize City (1956–1962), First Minister from 1961 and Premier from 1964. He is considered "one of the principal architects of that country's independence" and, as the head of the government prior to independence, served as Belize's first prime minister.