A subsemigroup S of a completely regular semigroup Q is an order in Q if every element of Q can be written as a 5 b and as cd 5 where aY bY cY d P S and x 5 is the inverse of x P Q in a subgroup of Q. If only the ®rst condition holds and one insists also that a R b in Q, then S is said to be a straight left order in Q. This paper characterizes those semigroups that are straight left orders in completely regular semigroups. A consequence of this result, together with some technicalities concerning lifting of morphisms, is a description of orders in completely regular semigroups.2000 Mathematics Subject Classi®cation: 20 M 10