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This study analyzed the organization of the ceremony for conferring the José Socorro Bernal Sobrino Municipal Order and its role as a political communication tool in the Municipality of Antón, Panama. A mixed-methods, descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used. The quantitative phase consisted of a census of 24 municipal employees through a structured 12-item questionnaire; the qualitative phase included a semi-structured interview with a recipient of the Order and a review of legal and institutional documents. Quantitative data were processed using frequencies and percentages, while qualitative information was organized into categories of institutionalization, precedence, proxemics, vexillology, and technical production. Results showed that 79.2% differentiated ceremonial from protocol, and 87.5% distinguished protocol from public relations. However, only 8.3% identified the existence of a manual and 29.2% recognized a public relations department; moreover, 54.2% did not know whether a specific ceremonial structure existed for the Order. The study concludes that staff conceptual knowledge and practical experience have not been fully translated into stable procedures or an organizational structure capable of ensuring continuity, solemnity, and communicative coherence. Institutionalization is proposed through a manual, a responsible unit, continuous training, and a technical script that organizes precedence, the use of symbols, and the sequence of the ceremony.
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