The award was instituted in 19 BBY, and continued to be given out until the deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. The central government on Coruscant continued to award the Order of Palpatine on occasion after Endor, until the fall of Imperial Center in 6.5 ABY, in order to increase morale. However, those were considered de facto awardings since an Imperial edict had proclaimed that only the Galactic Emperor could grant it. Thus, those awarded it after the Emperor's death were not considered legal recipients of it under the law of the Imperial Remnant, the Empire's successor state.