Order for Meritorious Service

{{Infobox military award

| name = Order for Meritorious Service

| image = Order for Meritorious Service, Gold.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| caption = Order for Meritorious Service, Gold

| presenter = the State President and, from 1994, the President

| country = {{flagicon|South Africa|1928}} {{flag|South Africa|1994}}

| type = Civil National Order

| eligibility = South African citizens

| awarded_for = Exceptional public service

| campaign =

| status = Discontinued in 2003

| description =

| motto =

| clasps =

| post-nominals = Gold - OMSG
Silver - OMSS

| established = 1986

| firstawarded =

| lastawarded = 2002

| total_awarded =

| total_awarded_posthumously =

| total_recipients =

| precedence_label = Pre-1994 & post-2002 orders of wear

| individual =

| higher = {{plainlist|Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, Pre-1994 precedence:

25px Star of South Africa, Gold and Star of South Africa, Grand Cross

}}

{{plainlist|Post-2002 precedence:

25px Order of Thohoyandou, Special Class, Grand Cross

}}

{{plainlist|Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, Pre-1994 precedence:

25px Star of South Africa, Silver and Star of South Africa, Grand Officer

}}

{{plainlist|Post-2002 precedence:

25px Order of Indwe, Class I

}}

| same =

| lower = {{plainlist|Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, Pre-1994 succession:

25px Order of Good Hope, Class I, Grand Collar/Grand Cross

}}

{{plainlist|Post-2002 succession:

25px Order of Transkei, Class I, Grand Cross

}}

{{plainlist|Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, Pre-1994 succession:

25px Order of Good Hope, Class II, Grand Officer, Silver

}}

{{plainlist|Post-2002 succession:

25px Order of Transkei, Class II, Grand Officer

}}

| related =

| image2 = x29px x29px

| caption2 = 1986 and 1996 ribbon bars}}

The Order for Meritorious Service is a South African National Order that consisted of two classes, in gold and silver, and was awarded to deserving South African citizens. The order was discontinued on 2 December 2002.[http://www.geocities.ws/militaf/civ67.htm South African Medal Website - Republic of South Africa: 1967-2002] (Accessed 1 May 2015)

Institution

The Order for Meritorious Service was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1986, by Warrant published in Government Gazette no. 10493 dated 24 October 1986. It superseded the earlier Decoration for Meritorious Services. The order could be awarded in two classes:

The Order for Meritorious Service, Class I, Gold, post-nominal letters OMSG, for exceptional merit.
The Order for Meritorious Service, Class II, Silver, post-nominal letters OMSS, for outstanding merit.

Award criteria

The Order was awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President, to South Africans who had rendered exceptional public service. Recipients included cabinet ministers, judges, captains of commerce and industry, church leaders, academics, sports stars and prominent figures in the arts and sciences.

Order of wear

The positions of the two classes of the Order for Meritorious Service in the official order of precedence were revised three times after 1986 to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first with the integration process of 1994, again when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory para-military forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again with the institution of new sets of awards in 2002 and 2003.[http://www.geocities.ws/militaf/sapnls.htm#MNO South African Medal Website - Post-nominal Letters] (Accessed 28 April 2015)

=Order for Meritorious Service, Gold=

;Official national order of precedence until 26 April 1994:

Preceded by the Star of South Africa, Gold and Star of South Africa, Grand Cross.
Succeeded by the Order of Good Hope, Class I, Grand Collar/Grand Cross.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993

;Official national order of precedence from 27 April 1994:

Preceded by the Order of Thohoyandou, Special Class, Grand Cross of the Republic of Venda.
Succeeded by the Order of Transkei, Class I, Grand Cross (GCT) of the Republic of Transkei.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, {{OCLC|72827981}}

The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Gold in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.

=Order for Meritorious Service, Silver=

;Official national order of precedence until 26 April 1994:

Preceded by the Star of South Africa, Silver and Star of South Africa, Grand Officer.
Succeeded by the Order of Good Hope, Class II, Grand Officer, Silver.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993

;Official national order of precedence from 27 April 1994:

Preceded by the Order of Indwe, Class I of the Republic of Ciskei.
Succeeded by the Order of Transkei, Class II, Grand Officer (GOT) of the Republic of Transkei.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, {{OCLC|72827981}}

The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Silver in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.

Description

Both classes share the same ribbon and are worn around the neck.

;Obverse

The badge of the Order is a white-enamelled gold or silver gable cross that displays the national arms on a shield in the centre of a smaller gold or silver cross paty.

;Reverse

The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms.

File:Order for Meritorious Service, Gold - Breast Star.jpg

;Suspender

The suspender is in the form of the crest of the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms, a lion holding four staves to represent the four provinces of the Union of South Africa, above an outline of an inverted gable.

;Breast star

The breast star consists of the badge of the order superimposed on a four-pointed multi-rayed diagonal star.

;Ribbon

The original ribbon was 35 millimetres wide and in the colours of the 1928 South African flag, with a 6 millimetres wide dark blue band, a 4 millimetres wide white band and a 5½ millimetres wide orange band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 4 millimetres wide white band.

A new ribbon was introduced in 1996, in the colours of the new post-1994 South African flag. It is also 35 millimetres wide with (approximate widths) a 2 millimetres wide red band, a 2 millimetres wide white band, a 7½ millimetres wide green band and a 5 millimetres wide yellow band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 2 millimetres wide black band, but with the red band at left replaced by a 2 millimetres wide blue band at right.

Discontinuation

Conferment of the decoration was discontinued in 2003 when a new set of national orders was instituted.

Recipients

The known recipients are listed in the table.{{cite web | url=http://natalia.org.za/Files/42/Natalia%2042%20Obituaries%20Cadman%20pp%20108-110.pdf | title=Natalia 42 Obituaries | publisher=Natal Society Foundation | date=2012 | access-date=November 29, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.panmacmillan.co.za/content/view/66/41/|title=Peter Magubane |publisher=Pan Macmillan}}Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 24977, Pretoria, 28 February 2003 (Retrieved 2015-02-16)

class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:100%;"

!scope="row"; style="background-color: #ACD1E9;"|Class

!scope="row"; style="background-color: #ACD1E9;"|Name

!scope="row"; style="background-color: #ACD1E9;"|Year

Gold

|Abdurahman, A. {{KIA}}

|2003

Silver

|Baard. Frances {{KIA}}

|2003

Gold

|Biko, Stephen Bantu {{KIA}}