The first civil order of the Republic of Latvia, the Order of the Three Stars, was first awarded in May 1925 to the member of the staff of the University of Latvia Professor Gaston Backmann. For one and a half year he was the only one among the staff of the University of Latvia, who was decorated with this high order. The next members of the staff of the University of Latvia received this award only in November 1926, however, there were more than two dozen who were awarded theOrder at that time, and in the following years there were more to come. As the Order of the Three Stars has five classes, it was not always easy for the members of the board to decide which class was adequate in each of the of individual cases they had to decide upon. Usually the person or institution submitting the proposals and nominating the candidates for this award, would also propose the class of the order, but these proposals were not always complied with, as it was not easy to propose the correct class for the person to be awarded. The greater part of those who were awarded in 1926 received the classes III and IV, and not the higher classes I and II, which led to extensive discussions and five of the proposed recipients from the University of Latvia felt offended and renounced the award. Members of the University of Latvia staff were not the only ones who refused the decoration for different reasons.