Order of Aryamehr

The Order of Aryamehr (Persian: نشان آریامهر, romanized: Neshān-e Āryāmehr, lit. 'Order of the Light of the Aryans') was one of the orders of honor of Iran during the Pahlavi monarchy.

In 1873, Naser al-Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty established the Order of Aftab (order of the sun) restricted to female sovereigns or consorts (1st class) and princess ladies or women of high rank (2nd class). In 1939, the order was renamed Order of Khorshid (Nishan-e Khorshid). This was then transformed into Order of Aryamehr (Neshān-e Āryāmehr, Nešâne Āryāmehr or Nishān-i Āryāmehr). It was the third and last imperial order of knighthood founded by Mohammad Reza Shah on 26 September 1967 in honour of his consort, Empress Farah Diba, and restricted to ladies only. The first class was restricted to female Sovereigns or consorts of reigning rulers, the second class to princesses.