The National Order of San Lorenzo was established as a military order medal by the President of the First Revolutionary Government of Quito, Juan Pío Montúfar, II Marquis de Selva Alegre, by a decree issued on August 17, 1809, in the Capitulate Hall of the Convent of San Agustín.

Once the Council disappeared and the power returned to Spanish hands, the Order also ceased for more than a century.

Finally the law was restructured on June 4 of 2001, during the government of president Gustavo Noboa Bejarano.

[2] Currently it is the highest award granted in Ecuador, both in civil and military fields.

World Medals Index, Ecuador: National Order of San Lorenzo