Aryamehr was the title used in the Pahlavi dynasty

Pahlavi dynasty

The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi (reg. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty ...

 by Shahanshah Mohammad Reza Shah of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. It means Light of the Aryans.

History

It was granted as a secondary title by a session of the joint Houses of Parliament (Majles

Majlis of Iran

The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...

) 1965 September 15, to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...

, the last Shah of Iran

Pahlavi dynasty

The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi (reg. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty ...

, reigning since he took the oath at the Majles 1941 September 17, before his coronation at Teheran 1967 October 26.

1980 July 27, Prince Reza Cyrus Pahlavi

Reza Pahlavi

Reza Pahlavi may refer to:*Reza Shah , aka Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Persia from 1925 until 1935 and Shah of Iran from 1935 until 1941* Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979, son of Reza Shah...

 nominally succeeded his father, in exile because the Iranian Revolution

Iranian Revolution

The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...

 had made Iran an Islamic Republic; he assumed, as Reza Pahlavi II, the titles of Shahanshah and Aryamehr, together with the style of His Imperial Majesty.

During the riots that lead to the 1979 Islamic revolution, the phonetically similar term 'Ary-az-mehr' (meaning void-of-compassion) was used by demonstrators to refer to the Shah. This term was used in condemnation of the brutality of the Shah's intelligence forces, that was widely viewed to be sanctioned by the Shah himself.

Associated order

The Neshān-e Āryāmehr, Nešâne Āryāmehr or Nishān-i Āryāmehr, meaning 'the Order of Light of the Aryans', was the third and last Imperial order of knighthood which the last Shah founded on 26 September 1967 (This date, given in most publications, is plausibly the date of revival, not of institution: photographs of the Imperial wedding celebrations in 1939 show the Queen Mother Taj ul-Mulk wearing an almost identical star. Reza Shah may well have founded the order at the same time as the Order of Pahlavi in 1932) in honour of his consort. Empress Farah Diba was awarded the high honour restricted to ladies only. The first class was restricted to female Sovereigns or consorts of reigning rulers, the second class to princesses.