Grand Officer’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, by Fisch of Bogotá, in gilded silver and enamels, 55.5 mm, and breast star, by Fibo Ltda of Bogotá, in silver, with gilded and enameled centre, 77.5 mm, in separate cases of issue, with award documents for the Commander’s neck badge dated November 6, 1951, and for the Grand Officer’s insignia, dated September 4, 1956.

The Order of Boyacá is the highest peacetime decoration of Colombia. The order is awarded for exceptional service to distinguished Colombian military officers and civilians as well as foreign citizens of friendly nations. Established in 1922, the Order of Boyacá traces its origin to a Cruz de Boyacá that was awarded to the generals who led their forces to victory in the Battle of Boyaca in 1819. Reestablished in 1919 as an award for military personnel the order has undergone revisions and expansions into its current form, with the biggest change happening in 1922 where civilians became eligible to be awarded the Order of Boyaca.

IZZET SAID KHOURCHID was born on October 3, 1895, in Damascus, Syria, the third son of Said Khourchid, a ballistics instructor at the Military Academy and subsequently a General in the Ottoman Army. He was educated at the University of Istanbul and received a degree in Chemistry. Following the assassination of his elder brother As’sad, who was the equivalent of the Minister of the Interior under the French Mandate in Syria in 1922, he decided to follow in his footsteps in the service of the infant Lebanese Republic. He became Chief of Police in 1945 and in 1952 was appointed Director General of the Ministry of Communications, a post which he held until 1955. In 1949 he was additionally made Provisional Director of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the rank of Plenipotentiary Minister, a post which was formalized in 1956 and which he continued to hold until his death in 1973. As well as pursuing a diplomatic career he was a pioneer in Arab journalism, especially in the field of political cartoons. He was also a much sought-after advertising draftsman as well as a calligraphy expert for the Lebanese courts.