Since then, the Military William Order has been the highest Dutch decoration. The Order of the Netherlands Lion originally consisted of three degrees and a Brother medal. The bearer of the brother medal was entitled to a small pension.

Order of the Oak Crown
For twenty-five years, the Netherlands had two orders. In 1841, as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, King Willem II created the Order of the Oak Crown. Although this was not a Dutch order, honours in the Order of the Oak Crown were regularly conferred on Dutch people and foreign diplomats. After the death of King Willem III in 1891, Luxembourg became an independent state. Since then, honours in the Order of the Oak Crown can no longer be awarded by the Dutch head of state.

Order of Orange-Nassau
The need for a third Dutch order had now become clear, in particular to be able to confer a royal honour on foreign diplomats, but also to be able to give people from lower classes and ranks a royal pat on the back. In 1892, in the time when Queen Emma acted as Regent for her underage daughter Wilhelmina, this development led to the creation of the third Dutch order: the Order of Orange-Nassau. Until 1996, this order consisted of five grades. In adddition, honorary medals in gold, silver and bronze were linked to the Order until 1996. The bearers of the Honorary medal were not included in the Order.

Bravery
Until 1940, the Military William Order was the only decoration for bravery in battle. However, due to the very high requirements, it was very difficult to achieve. There was a great need for other honours that could be conferred for special deeds. In the period 1940-1945, a number of bravery honours were established, namely the Bronze Lion, the Bronze Cross, the Cross of Merit and the Airman's Cross.

Revision
Starting in 1965, a range of commissions and working groups considered a revision of the honours system in order to adapt it to modern times. In particular the many automatic conferrals that had crept into the system and the fact that both Orders mainly honoured the same merits had to be addressed. The Military William Order was not included in the revision.

The Portheine Commission was established in 1982, commissioned by the government. This commission laid the foundation for a new and more democratic honours system. The commission was asked in particular to pay attention to the consequences of the increasing democratisation, the need for the emancipation of certain groups of the population and equality between various professional groups. The commission published its report in 1984.
The Portheine Commission found, among other things, that conferring Royal honours is still of importance in our day and age, both at home and abroad.