[2] After the nomination period, the Technical Commission shall issue a conclusive opinion before submitting it for consideration by the Council of the Order of Cultural Merit.

After approval of the names by the Council, the President of the Republic accepts and promotes the personalities and institutions in the OMC by means of Presidential Decree.

In the center, an open book carved gold over a laurel wreath surrounded by the legend "Ordem do Mérito Cultural".

There are intellectuals, producers and artists from various cultural segments and recognized works of social inclusion, art and education.

Recipients include Olga Praguer Coelho, Milton Nascimento, Lygia Fagundes Telles, Athos Bulcão, Fernando and Humberto Campana,[4] Celso Furtado, Lúcio Costa, Ariano Suassuna, Cesária Évora, Carmen Miranda, Raul Seixas, Zuzu Angel, Vinicius de Moraes, Nelson Rodrigues, the Brazilian Academy of Letters, Clarice Lispector, Antônio Fagundes, and Judith Malina.