The civilian awards in order of rank are as follows:

1. Bharat Ratna:
Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." The award was established by the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, on January 2, 1954. Along with other major national honours, such as the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, the awarding of the Bharat Ratna was suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980. The honour has been awarded to forty one persons, a list which includes two non-Indians and a naturalized Indian citizen. Tamil Nadu is the state with the highest number of awardees (8) followed closely by Uttar Pradesh (7). While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption. There has been one award to a naturalized Indian citizen — Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980); and two to non-Indians — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990).

2. Padma Vibhushan:
The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on January 2, 1954. It comes after the Bharat Ratna and before the Padma Bhushan. It is awarded to recognize exceptional and distinguished service to the nation in any field, including government service.

3. Padma Bhushan:
The Padma Bhushan award is an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India. It stands third in the hierarchy of civilian awards, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.

4. Padma Shri:
Padma Shri is an award given by the Government of India generally to Indian citizens to recognize their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Social Service and public life. It stands fourth in the hierarchy of civilian awards after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan.
 
Source: Wikipedia