It was in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy that, on the basis of the ordinance of 1888 those young individuals who completed their education at the high school or university levels with top distinction, could apply for the diploma sub auspiciis imperatoris.

The motion for such a diploma was drawn up by the Academic Senate while the decision was taken by the Ministerium für Cultur und Unterricht, the diploma being signed by the emperor himself. The laureate received therefore the diploma that was solemn in its form. Likewise, he received, from the emperor, the ring with the imperial coat of arms and monogram.

This distraction, stimulative of the ambitions of young people, was of considerable significance in the further career of the laureates. This distinction was introduced at the time when the old class structure of the Habsburg Monarchy was already being deprived of its legal foundation. As a result, the armorial signet rings in informative of the nobiliary affiliation could, in the course of time, be replaced by those obtained with one’s own knowledge and value. This, in its turn, would lead to the forming of the elite whose origin would not rely on birth but on merits.