Order of Merit facts for kids

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Insignia of the Order of Merit presented to Dorothy Hodgkin, displayed in the Royal Society in London
Awarded by the sovereign of the Commonwealth realms
Type	Dynastic order
Royal house	House of Windsor
Motto	FOR MERIT
Eligibility	All living citizens of the Commonwealth realms
Awarded for	At the monarch's pleasure
Status	Currently awarded
Sovereign	Elizabeth II
Grades	Member (OM)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Dependent on state
Next (lower)	Dependent on state
Ribbon of the Order of Merit

The Order of Merit (French: Ordre du Mérite) is an award, for notable work in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. The order was set up in 1902, by Edward VII. Membership of the order is a personal gift of its Sovereign (the monarch does not take advice from politicians about who should be a member). The sovereign of the order is the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and is limited to 24 living recipients at one time from these countries, plus a small number of honorary members.

Whilst all members can use the post-nominal letters OM and a medallion for life, the Order of Merit's precedence, amongst other honours, differs between Commonwealth realms.

History
Eligibility and appointment
Current members
Precedence in each realm
Substantive members
- Honorary members
Images for kids
See also

History

The first mention of a possible Order of Merit was made following the Battle of Trafalgar, in 1805, in letters between the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Barham and Prime Minister William Pitt, though nothing came from the idea. Later, Queen Victoria, her courtiers, and politicians, all thought that a new order, based on the Prussian order Pour le Mérite, would make up for the insufficient recognition offered by the established honours system to achievement outside of public service, in realms such as art, music, literature, industry, and science. Victoria's husband, Albert, Prince Consort, took an interest in the matter; he wrote in his diary that he met on 16 January 1844 with Robert Peel to discuss the "idea of institution of a civil Order of Merit" and three days later he talked with the Queen on the subject. The concept did not wither and, on 5 January 1888, British prime minister the Marquess of Salisbury submitted to the Queen a draft constitution for an Order of Merit in Science and Art, consisting of one grade split into two branches of knighthood: the Order of Scientific Merit - for Knights of Merit in Science, with the post-nominal letters KMS— and the Order of Artistic Merit - for Knights of Merit in Art, with the post-nominal letters KMA. However, Sir Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy, advised against the new order, primarily because of its selection process.

King Edward VII, founder of the Order of Merit

It was Victoria's son, Edward VII, who eventually founded the Order of Merit, on 26 June 1902— the date for which his coronation had been originally planned— as a means to acknowledge "exceptionally meritorious service in Our Navy and Our Army, or who may have rendered exceptionally meritorious service towards the advancement of Art, Literature and Science"; all modern aspects of the order were established under his direction, including the division for military figures. From the outset, prime ministers attempted to propose candidates or lobbied to influence the monarch's decision on appointments, but the Royal Household adamantly guarded information about potential names. After 1931, when the Commonwealth of Nations came into being and the former Dominions of the British Empire became independent states, equal in status to the UK, the Order of Merit remained an honour open to all the King's realms; thus, as with the monarch who conferred it, the order ceased to be purely British.

From the start, the order has been open to women, Florence Nightingale being the first woman to receive the honour, in 1907. Several people have not taken the honour, such as Rudyard Kipling, A. E. Housman, and George Bernard Shaw. To date, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, remains the youngest person ever inducted into the Order of Merit, having been admitted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, when he was 47 years of age.

Eligibility and appointment

All citizens of the Commonwealth realms are able to be given the Order of Merit. There can only be 24 living people in the order at any given time, not including honorary appointees, and new members are personally selected by the reigning monarch of the 16 realms, presently Queen Elizabeth II, with the help of her private secretaries; the order has thus been described as "quite possibly, the most prestigious honour one can receive on planet Earth." Within the limited membership is a designated military division, with its own unique insignia; though it has not been abolished, it is currently unused, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma having been the last person so honoured. Honorary members form another group, to which there is no limit, though such appointments are rare; individuals from countries in the Commonwealth of Nations that are not headed by Elizabeth II are considered foreigners, and thus are granted only honorary admissions, such as Nelson Mandela (South Africa) and Mother Teresa (India).

On admission into the Order of Merit, members can use the post-nominal letters OM, and have the badge of the order, consisting of a golden crown from which is suspended a red enamelled cross, itself centred by a disk of blue enamel, surrounded by a gold laurel wreath, and bearing in gold lettering the words FOR MERIT; the insignia for the military grouping has a pair of crossed swords behind the central disk. The ribbon of the Order of Merit is divided into two stripes of red and blue; men wear their badges on a neck ribbon, while women carry theirs on a ribbon bow pinned to the left shoulder, and aides-de-camp may wear the insignia on their aiguillettes. Since 1991, the insignia is to be given back upon the recipient's death.

Current members

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II

Members

(122) The Duke of Edinburgh, royal consort, appointed 10 June 1968
(145) The Reverend Owen Chadwick, theological historian, appointed 11 November 1983
(162) Sir Michael Atiyah, mathematician, Fields medalist, Abel laureate, and former President of the Royal Society, appointed 17 November 1992
(166) Sir Aaron Klug, biophysicist, Nobel laureate, and former President of the Royal Society, appointed 23 October 1995
(169) The Lord Foster of Thames Bank, architect and Pritzker laureate, appointed 25 November 1997
(175) Sir Roger Penrose, mathematical physicist, appointed 9 May 2000
(176) Tom Stoppard, playwright, appointed 9 May 2000
(177) The Prince of Wales, heir to the throne and conservationist, appointed 27 June 2002
(178) The Lord May of Oxford, ecologist and former President of the Royal Society, appointed 28 October 2002
(179) The Lord Rothschild, philanthropist, appointed 28 October 2002
(180) Sir David Attenborough, natural historian and broadcaster, appointed 10 June 2005
(181) The Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell, first female Speaker of the House of Commons, appointed 10 June 2005
(182) Sir Michael Howard, military historian, appointed 10 June 2005
(183) The Lord Eames of Armagh, Anglican Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, appointed 13 June 2007
(184) Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, appointed 13 June 2007
(185) The Lord Rees of Ludlow, Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society, appointed 13 June 2007
(186) Jean Chrétien, former Canadian prime minister, appointed 13 July 2009
(187) Neil MacGregor, art historian and Director of The British Museum, appointed 4 November 2010
(188) David Hockney, artist, appointed 1 January 2012
(189) John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia, appointed 1 January 2012

Honorary members

(none)

Precedence in each realm

As the Order of Merit is open to the citizens of sixteen different countries, each with their own system of orders, decorations, and medals, the order's place of precedence varies from country to country. While in the United Kingdom, members rank below Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, it has been claimed by Stanley Martin, in his book The Order of Merit 1902-2002: One Hundred Years of Matchless Honour, that the Order of Merit is actually the pinnacle of the British honours system. Similarly, though it was not listed in the Canadian order of precedence for honours, decorations, and medals until December 2010, except relating to those who were appointed to the order prior to 1 June 1972, both Christopher McCreery, an expert on Canadian honours and secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, an editor of Burke's Peerage, stated that the Order of Merit was the highest civilian award for merit a Canadian could receive.

Some orders of precedence are as follows:

Country		Preceding	Following
Australia Order of precedence		Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)	Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia (AK/AD)
Canada Order of precedence		Cross of Valour (CV)	Companion of the Order of Canada (CC)
New Zealand Order of precedence		Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)	Member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ)
United Kingdom	England and Wales Order of precedence	Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)	Knight/Dame Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB/DCB)

The Earl Roberts, first British member of the Order of Merit

Florence Nightingale, the first female member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1907

The Lord Rutherford of Nelson, first New Zealand member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1925

Samuel Alexander, the first Australian member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1930

Jan Smuts, the first South African member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1947

William Lyon Mackenzie King, the first Canadian member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1947

Substantive members

Member number	Name	Known for	Date of appointment	Present age
1 (122)	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM GCVO GBE AK ONZ QSO GCL CC CMM CD PC PCc ADC(P)	Consort of Elizabeth II	10 June 1968	102
2 (169)	The Lord Foster of Thames Bank OM	Architect and Pritzker laureate	25 November 1997	88
3 (175)	Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS	Mathematical physicist	9 May 2000	92
4 (176)	Sir Tom Stoppard OM CBE FRSL	Playwright	9 May 2000	86
5 (177)	Charles, Prince of Wales PCc KG KT GCB OM AK CC QSO CD	Heir apparent to Elizabeth II	27 June 2002	75
6 (178)	The Lord May of Oxford OM AC FRS FAA FTSE FRSN	Ecologist and former President of the Royal Society	28 October 2002	85
7 (179)	The Lord Rothschild OM GBE FBA	Philanthropist	28 October 2002	87
8 (180)	Sir David Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE FRS FLS FZS FSA	Broadcaster and naturalist	10 June 2005	97
9 (181)	The Baroness Boothroyd OM PC	First female Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom	10 June 2005	94
10 (182)	Sir Michael Howard OM CH CBE MC FBA	Military historian	10 June 2005	101
11 (183)	The Lord Eames OM	Former Primate of All Ireland and former Archbishop of Armagh	13 June 2007	86
12 (184)	Sir Tim Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA FBCS	Inventor of the World Wide Web and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium	13 June 2007	68
13 (185)	The Lord Rees of Ludlow OM FRS FREng FMedSci FRAS	Astronomer Royal and former President of the Royal Society	13 June 2007	81
14 (186)	Jean Chrétien PC OM CC QC	Former Prime Minister of Canada	13 July 2009	89
15 (187)	Neil MacGregor OM AO FSA	Art historian and former Director of the British Museum	4 November 2010	77
16 (188)	David Hockney OM CH RA	Artist	1 January 2012	86
17 (189)	John Howard OM AC	Second-longest serving Prime Minister of Australia (1996-2007)	1 January 2012	84
18 (190)	Sir Simon Rattle OM CBE	Orchestral conductor	1 January 2014	68
19 (192)	Sir Magdi Yacoub OM FRS	Cardiothoracic surgeon	1 January 2014	88
20 (193)	The Lord Darzi of Denham OM KBE PC FRS FMedSci FRCSI FRCS FRCSE FRCPGlas FACS FRCP FREng	Surgeon	31 December 2015	63
21 (194)	Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FRS FREng	Mechanical engineer	31 December 2015	71
22 (195)	Sir James Dyson OM CBE FRS FREng	Inventor and industrial designer	31 December 2015	76

Honorary members

Agnesë Bojaxhiu) was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1983

	Countries	Name	Date of appointment	Date of death
19.		Prince Yamagata Aritomo	21 February 1906	1 February 1922
20.		Prince Ōyama Iwao	21 February 1906	10 December 1916
21.		Marquess Tōgō Heihachirō	21 February 1906	30 May 1934
40.		Ferdinand Foch	29 November 1918	20 March 1929
43.		Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre	26 June 1919	3 January 1931
81.		Dwight David Eisenhower	12 June 1945	28 March 1969
88.		John Gilbert Winant	1 January 1947	3 November 1947
99.		Albert Schweitzer	25 February 1955	4 September 1965
111.		Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	12 June 1963	17 April 1975
149.	/	Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu	18 November 1983	5 September 1997