 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Order of precedence" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2024) |
Anorder of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of importance applied to individuals,[1] groups, or organizations. For individuals, it is most often used fordiplomats in attendance at very formal occasions. It can also be used in the context of medals, decorations, and awards.
A person's position in an order ofprecedence is not necessarily an indication of functional importance, but rather an indication ofceremonial or historical relevance; for instance, it may dictate wheredignitaries are seated at formal dinners. The term is occasionally used to mean theorder of succession—to determine who replaces thehead of state in the event they are removed from office or incapacitated—as this order often correlates with importance.
Universities and theprofessions often have their own rules of precedence applying locally, based (for example) on university or professional rank, each rank then being ordered within itself on the basis of seniority (i.e. date of attaining that rank). Within an institution, the officials of that institution are likely to rank much higher in the order than in a general order of precedence—the chancellor or president of a university may well precede anyone except a head of state, for example. The same might be true for a mayor in their own city.
What follows are the general orders of precedence for different countries for state purposes, such as diplomatic dinners. These are made under the assumption that such functions are held in the capital; when they are held in another city or region, local officials such as governors would be much higher up the order. There may also be more specific and local orders of precedence, for particular occasions or within particular institutions.
| Distinctions (Lists) |
|    | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremonies and events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Related organisations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Related concepts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg)
