Order of the Companions of Honour Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Order of the Companions of Honour
Badge and ribbon of the order
Awarded by Charles III
Type	Order
Established	4 June 1917
Motto	In Action Faithful and in Honour Clear
Eligibility	All living citizens of the Commonwealth realms
Criteria	Nationally important service
Status	Currently constituted
Founder	George V
Sovereign	Charles III
Grades	Member (CH)
Ribbon bar of the order

The Order of the Companions of Honour is a special award given in many countries that share King Charles III as their head of state. These countries are called Commonwealth realms. King George V created this award on June 4, 1917. It was meant to celebrate people who had done amazing things.

This award was created to honor people for their great achievements. It was for those who deserved a special recognition that did not give them a new title. Today, it is given for "major contributions to the arts, science, medicine, or government" over a long time. The first people to receive this award were honored for their help during the First World War.

Who Can Join the Order?
What Does the Award Look Like?
Current Members of the Order
See Also

Who Can Join the Order?

Lord Tweedsmuir, a former Governor General of Canada, wearing his Order of the Companions of Honour badge.

The Order of the Companions of Honour includes the King or Queen, who is the leader of the Order. It also has up to 65 members. People from other countries or Commonwealth citizens from outside the Commonwealth realms can also become honorary members.

All members belong to a single group. The King or Queen chooses them as the leader of the Order. Being a member does not give you a special title or change your social rank. However, those who join can use the letters CH after their name. This shows they are part of the Order.

Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth realms usually suggest who should receive the award. For people in Canada, different officials can suggest names to the King or Queen. The Order first had only 50 members. In 1943, this number grew to 65 members.

Australia no longer gives this award to its citizens. Instead, they prefer to give their own Australian honors. The last Australian member passed away in 2020. However, people from other Commonwealth realms still receive the award. For example, Kiri Te Kanawa, an opera singer from New Zealand, received it in 2018. Canadian author Margaret Atwood was given the award in 2019.

Lord Coe represented the Order at the King's Coronation in 2023.

What Does the Award Look Like?

The award, called an insignia, is shaped like an oval medal. It has a royal crown on top. Inside, there is a picture of an oak tree. A shield with the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom hangs from one of its branches. On the left side, there is a knight in armor riding a horse.

The medal has a blue border with gold letters. These letters spell out the motto: IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR. This motto comes from a poem by Alexander Pope. Men wear the medal on a red ribbon around their neck. Women wear it on a bow pinned to their left shoulder.

Current Members of the Order

The Order has a Sovereign (the King) and members. Here are the current members.

Royal Companion

Member number	Name	Post-nominals	Occupation	Date of appointment	Age
1 (384)	The Princess of Wales	GCVO, CH	Royal family	23 April 2024	43

Members

Member number	Name	Post-nominals	Current or former occupation	Date of appointment	Age
1 (267)	The Lord Tebbit	CH, PC	Politician	31 July 1987	94
2 (270)	The Lord Baker of Dorking	CH, PC	Politician	13 April 1992	90
3 (278)	The Lord King of Bridgwater	CH, PC	Politician	13 April 1992	92
4 (282)	Dame Janet Baker	CH, DBE	Opera singer	31 December 1993	91
5 (287)	The Lord Owen	CH, PC	Politician	11 June 1994	87
6 (289)	Sir David Attenborough	OM, GCMG, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FSA, FRSA, FLS, FZS, FRSGS, FRSB	Broadcaster; naturalist	30 December 1995	99
7 (291)	The Lord Hurd of Westwell	CH, CBE, PC	Politician	30 December 1995	95
8 (294)	David Hockney	OM, CH	Artist	14 June 1997	88
9 (296)	The Lord Heseltine	CH, PC	Politician	2 August 1997	92
10 (297)	The Lord Patten of Barnes	KG, CH, PC	Politician; former Governor of Hong Kong	31 December 1997	81
11 (299)	Sir John Major	KG, CH, PC	Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom	31 December 1998	82
12 (300)	Bridget Riley	CH, CBE	Artist	31 December 1998	94
13 (305)	John de Chastelain	CC, CMM, CH, CD	Canadian Army officer; diplomat	31 December 1998	88
14 (317)	Dan McKenzie	CH, FRS	Geophysicist	14 June 2003	83
15 (318)	The Lord Hannay of Chiswick	GCMG, CH	Diplomat	14 June 2003	79
16 (320)	Dame Judi Dench	CH, DBE	Actress	11 June 2005	90
17 (321)	Sir Ian McKellen	CH, CBE	Actor	31 December 2007	86
18 (323)	The Lord Howard of Lympne	CH, PC, KC	Politician	11 June 2011	84
19 (324)	The Lord Young of Cookham	CH, PC	Politician	20 September 2012	84
20 (325)	The Lord Coe	CH, KBE,	Politician; athlete; organiser of 2012 Olympics	29 December 2012	68
21 (327)	The Lord Strathclyde	CH, PC	Politician	7 January 2013	65
22 (328)	The Lord Campbell of Pittenweem	CH, CBE, PC, KC	Politician	15 June 2013	84
23 (329)	Sir Nicholas Serota	CH	Curator	15 June 2013	79
24 (331)	The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve	CH, CBE, FBA, FRS, FMedSci	Philosopher	31 December 2013	83
25 (332)	Dame Maggie Smith	CH, DBE	Actress	14 June 2014	90
26 (333)	The Lord Clarke of Nottingham	CH, PC, KC	Politician	22 July 2014	85
27 (336)	Lady Mary Peters	LG, CH, DBE, DStJ	Athlete	1 January 2015	86
28 (339)	The Lord Woolf	CH, PC, FBA, FMedSci	Judge	12 June 2015	92
29 (341)	Sir Roy Strong	CH, FRSL	Art historian; museum director	1 January 2016	89
30 (343)	The Lord Smith of Kelvin	KT, CH	Businessman	11 June 2016	80
31 (344)	The Baroness Amos	LG, CH, PC	Politician; diplomat	11 June 2016	71
32 (345)	George Osborne	CH, PC	Politician; former Chancellor of the Exchequer	4 August 2016	54
33 (347)	Sir Richard Eyre	CH, CBE	Director	31 December 2016	82
33 (348)	Dame Evelyn Glennie	CH, DBE	Musician	31 December 2016	60
35 (349)	Sir Alec Jeffreys	CH, FRS	Geneticist	31 December 2016	75
36 (353)	Sir Mark Elder	CH, CBE	Conductor	17 June 2017	78
37 (355)	Sir Paul McCartney	CH, MBE	Musician	17 June 2017	83
38 (356)	J. K. Rowling	CH, OBE	Author	17 June 2017	60
39 (357)	Dame Stephanie Shirley	CH, DBE, FREng	Entrepreneur; philanthropist	17 June 2017	91
40 (358)	Delia Smith	CH, CBE	Cook; author	17 June 2017	84
41 (359)	The Lord Stern of Brentford	CH, FRS, FBA	Economist	17 June 2017	79
42 (361)	The Lord Bragg	CH, FRS, FBA, FRSL	Broadcaster	30 December 2017	85
43 (362)	Lady Antonia Fraser	CH, DBE, FRSL	Author	30 December 2017	92
44 (363)	Margaret MacMillan	OM, CC, CH	Historian	30 December 2017	81
45 (364)	Richard Henderson	CH, FRS, FMedSci	Biologist	9 June 2018	80
46 (365)	Dame Kiri Te Kanawa	ONZ, CH, DBE, AC	Opera singer	9 June 2018	81
47 (366)	Margaret Atwood	CC, OOnt, CH, FRSC, FRSL	Author	29 December 2018	85
48 (367)	The Lord McLoughlin	CH, PC	Politician	10 September 2019	67
49 (368)	Sir Elton John	CH, CBE	Musician	28 December 2019	78
50 (369)	Sir Keith Thomas	CH, FBA, FLSW, FRHistS	Historian	28 December 2019	92
51 (370)	Sir Paul Smith	CH, CBE, RDI	Fashion designer	10 October 2020	79
52 (371)	Sir David Chipperfield	CH, CBE, RA, RDI, RIBA	Architect	31 December 2020	71
53 (372)	Sir Paul Nurse	OM, CH, FRS, FMedSci, , , MAE	Geneticist	31 December 2021	76
54 (374)	Sir Quentin Blake	CH, CBE, FCSD, FRSL, RDI	Illustrator	1 June 2022	92
55 (375)	Sir Salman Rushdie	CH, FRSL	Writer	1 June 2022	78
56 (376)	Dame Marina Warner	CH, DBE, FRSL, FBA	Writer	1 June 2022	78
57 (377)	Sir Michael Marmot	CH, FRCP, FFPM, FMedSci, FBA	Academic	31 December 2022	80
58 (379)	Sir Bill Cash	CH	Politician	9 June 2023	85
59 (380)	Sir John Bell	GBE, CH, FMedSci, FREng	Physician	16 June 2023	73
60 (381)	Ian McEwan	CH, CBE, FRSA, FRSL	Writer	16 June 2023	77
61 (382)	Dame Anna Wintour	CH, DBE	Media executive	16 June 2023	75
62 (383)	Dame Shirley Bassey	CH, DBE	Singer	29 December 2023	88
63 (-)	Vacant following the death of The Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, on 13 May 2023
64 (-)	Vacant following the death of Peter Higgs, on 8 April 2024
65 (-)	Vacant following the death of The Lord Field of Birkenhead, on 23 April 2024