Order of Merit

In around 1773, George III considered establishing an order of knighthood to be called the "Order of Minerva" with membership restricted to 24 distinguished artists and authors.{{cite book |last=Huish |first=Robert |date=1821 |title=Public and Private Life of His Late Excellent and Most Gracious Majesty George The Third |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxtNAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live |location=London |publisher=Thomas Kelly |archive-date=7 May 2022 |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507113724/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Public_and_Private_Life_of_His_Late/rxtNAAAAMAAJ }} Knights would be entitled to the post-nominal letters KM, and would wear a silver nine-pointed breast star with the image of Minerva at its centre, along with a "straw-coloured" sash worn across the chest from the right shoulder. The motto of the Order would be "Omnia posthabita scientiae" (in Latin, 'Everything comes after science'). Once the King's proposal was made public, however, arguments within intellectual circles over who would be most deserving of the new order grew so heated that George ultimately dropped the idea, though he briefly reconsidered it in 1789; on 6 February of that year, he revised the design of the order, with the breast star to have sixteen points, the motto to be the Latin for "Learning improves character" and with membership to include distinguished scientists.{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |date=2021 |title=The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III |publisher=Viking |page=526 |isbn=9781984879264}} Following the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, First Lord of the Admiralty Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham and William Pitt exchanged correspondence concerning the possible creation of an order of merit, though nothing came of the idea.{{Harvnb| Martin| 2007| p=11}}

Later, Queen Victoria, her courtiers, and politicians alike,{{Harvnb| Martin| 2007| p=12}} 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 public service, in fields such as art, music, literature, industry and science. Victoria's husband, Albert, Prince Consort, took an interest in the matter; it was recorded in his diary that he met Sir Robert Peel on 16 January 1844 to discuss the "idea of institution of a civil Order of Merit" and, three days later, he conferred with the Queen on the subject.{{Harvnb| Martin| 2007| p=13}}

Though nothing came of the idea at the time, the concept did not wither and, more than 40 years later, on 5 January 1888, Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury submitted to the by then long-widowed 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, Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy of Arts, advised against the new order, primarily because of its selection process.{{Harvnb| Martin| 2007| pp=18–20}}

File:King-Edward-VII (cropped).jpg, 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 scheduled{{Harvnb| Martin| 2007| p=1}}) 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".{{cite book| last=Mountbatten| first=Philip| author-link=Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh| date=2007| contribution=Foreword| contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWVscq9SdgYC| editor-last=Martin| editor-first=Stanley| title=The Order of Merit: One Hundred Years of Matchless Honour| pages=xvii| place=London| publication-place=New York| publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.| isbn=978-1-86064-848-9| access-date=24 September 2016| archive-date=25 November 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125152915/https://books.google.com/books?id=zWVscq9SdgYC| url-status=live}} 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 Statute of Westminster came into effect and the Dominions of the British Empire became independent countries within the empire, equal in status to the UK, the Order of Merit continued as an honour open to all these realms and, in many, became a part of their newly developing national honours systems.{{cite book| last=McCreery| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher McCreery| title=The Canadian Honours System| page=98| publisher=Dundurn Press| location=Toronto| year=2005| isbn=9781550025545}} The order's statutes were amended in 1935 to include members of the Royal Air Force and, in 1969, the definition of honorary recipients was expanded to include members of the Commonwealth of Nations that are not realms.

The order has always been open to women, Florence Nightingale being the first woman to receive the honour, in 1907. Several individuals have refused admission into the Order of Merit, including Rudyard Kipling, A. E. Housman, and George Bernard Shaw. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, remains the youngest person ever inducted into the Order, having been admitted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1968, when he was 47 years old.

Robin Eames, Baron Eames represented the order at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla on 6 May 2023.{{cite web| title=Coronation order of service in full| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65503950| date=6 May 2023| publisher=BBC News| access-date=6 May 2023}}

All citizens of the Commonwealth realms are eligible for appointment to the Order of Merit. There may be, however, only 24 living individuals in the order at any given time, not including honorary appointees, and new members are personally selected by the reigning monarch of the realms, currently Charles III, with the assistance of his private secretaries; the order has thus been described as "quite possibly, the most prestigious honour one can receive on planet Earth."{{cite web| last=Editorial Board| title=Order Worthy?| newspaper=National Post| date=15 July 2009| url=https://nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1791001| access-date=29 July 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [https://www.pressreader.com/canada/national-post-latest-edition/20090715/281917359074501 Alt URL]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601115111/https://www.pressreader.com/canada/national-post-latest-edition/20090715/281917359074501 |date=1 June 2019 }}. Within the limited membership is a designated military division, with its own unique insignia; though it has not been abolished, it is currently unpopulated, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma having been the last person so honoured.

Honorary members form another group, to which there is no numerical limit, though such appointments are rare; individuals from countries in the Commonwealth of Nations that are not headed by King Charles are therefore considered foreigners, and thus are granted only honorary admissions, such as Nelson Mandela (South Africa) and Mother Teresa (India).

Upon admission into the Order of Merit, members are entitled to use the post-nominal letters OM and are entrusted with the badge of the order.

File:Order of Merit in Westminster Cathedral (cropped).jpg

The insignia consists of a badge, which consists of a golden crown from which is suspended a red enamelled cross pattée, itself centred by a disk of blue enamel, surrounded by a laurel wreath.{{cite web| url=http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/forchildren/medalsanduniforms/medals/index.html| publisher=Clarence House| title=For Children > Medals and Uniforms > Medals > Picture 4: The Order of Merit| access-date=29 July 2009| archive-date=1 March 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301063907/http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/forchildren/medalsanduniforms/medals/index.html| url-status=live}} The obverse of the badge's central disk bears the words FOR MERIT in gold lettering, while the reverse bears the royal cypher of the reigning monarch in gold. The insignia for the military grouping is distinguished by 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. The neck ribbon is 50mm in width, while the ribbon bar width is the standard British 32mm size for military or civilian wear.{{cite web |title=British Order of Merit: Collingwood Ltd |url=https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/585429.1 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=National Trust Collections |id=NT 585429.1}} Men wear their badges on a neck ribbon (as a necklet), while women wear 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 must be returned upon the recipient's death.{{Harvnb| Martin| 2007| p=56}}

{{Further|List of members of the Order of Merit}}

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; background:white; border:#01796f solid;"

!Name

!Year of appointment

!Present age

|-

|King Charles III (ex officio)

|2002 as The Prince of Wales; sovereign since 2022{{efn|The sovereign of the order, who was appointed a member on 27 June 2002 as Prince of Wales, is technically no longer a member of the Order of Merit. However, as its sovereign, he may continue to wear the insignia.}}

|{{age|1948|11|14}}

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; background:white; border:#01796f solid;"

!Member

number{{efn|name=order|The number shown in brackets is the individual's place in the wider order of appointment since the Order's inception.}}

!Name

!Known for

!Year of

appointment

!Present age

|-

|1 (169)

|Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|RA|HonFREng}}

|Architect and Pritzker laureate

|1997

|{{age nts|1935|06|1}}

|-

|2 (175)

|Sir Roger Penrose {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|FRS|HonFInstP}}

|Mathematical physicist and Nobel Laureate

| rowspan="2" |2000

|{{age nts|1931|08|08}}

|-

|3 (176)

|Sir Tom Stoppard {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|CBE|FRSL|HonFBA}}

|Playwright

|{{age nts|1937|07|03}}

|-

|4 (180)

|Sir David Attenborough {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|GCMG|CH|CVO|CBE|FRS|FSA|FRSA|FLS|FZS|FRSGS|FRSB|HonFLI}}HonFLI

|Television broadcaster and conservationist

|2005

|{{age nts|1926|05|08}}

|-

|5 (183)

|Robin Eames, Baron Eames {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM}}

|Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh

| rowspan="3" |2007

|{{age nts|1937|05|27}}

|-

|6 (184)

|Sir Tim Berners-Lee {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|KBE|FRS|FREng|FRSA|FBCS}}

|Inventor of the World Wide Web, Founder of the World Wide Web Foundation and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium

|{{age nts|1955|06|08}}

|-

|7 (185)

|Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|FRS|FREng|FMedSci|FRAS|HonFInstP}}

|Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society

|{{age nts|1942|06|23}}

|-

|8 (186)

|Jean Chrétien {{post-nominals|country=CAN|sep=,|PC|OMt|CC|KC|AdE}}

|Prime Minister of Canada

|2009

|{{age nts|1934|01|11}}

|-

|9 (187)

|Neil MacGregor {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|AO|FSA}}

|Art historian and Director of the British Museum

|2010

|{{age nts|1946|06|16}}

|-

|10 (188)

|David Hockney {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OM|CH|RA|sep=,}}

|Artist

| rowspan="2" |2012

|{{age nts|1937|07|09}}

|-

|11 (189)

|John Howard {{post-nominals|country=AUS|sep=,|OM|AC|SSI}}

|Prime Minister of Australia

|{{age nts|1939|07|26}}

|-

|12 (190)

|Sir Simon Rattle {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|CBE}}

|Conductor

| rowspan="2" |2014

|{{age nts|1955|01|19}}

|-

|13 (192)

|Sir Magdi Yacoub {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|FRS}}

|Cardiothoracic surgeon

|{{age nts|1935|11|16}}

|-

|14 (193)

|Ara Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|KBE|PC|FRS|FMedSci|FRCSI|FRCS|FRCSE|FRCPGlas|FACS|FRCP|FREng}}

|Surgeon

| rowspan="3" |2016

|{{age nts|1960|05|07}}

|-

|15 (194)

|Dame Ann Dowling {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|DBE|FRS|FREng}}

|Mechanical engineer

|{{age nts|1952|07|15}}

|-

|16 (195)

|Sir James Dyson {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|CBE|RDI|FRS|FREng|FCSD|FIEE}}

|Inventor and industrial designer

|{{age nts|1947|05|02}}

|-

|17 (196)

|Dame Elizabeth Anionwu {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|DBE|FRCN}}

|Nurse

| rowspan="6" |2022

|{{age nts|1947|7|2}}

|-

|18 (197)

|Floella Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|DBE|DL}}

|Broadcaster

|{{age nts|1949|09|23}}

|-

|19 (198)

|Margaret MacMillan {{post-nominals|country=CAN|sep=,|OMt|CC|CH|FRSL|FRSC|FBA|FRCGS}}

|Author and Provost of Trinity College, Toronto

|{{age nts|1943|12|23}}

|-

|20 (199)

|Sir David Adjaye {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|OBE|RA}}

|Architect

|{{age nts|1966|09|22}}

|-

|21 (200)

|Sir Paul Nurse {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|CH|FRS|FMedSci|HonFREng|HonFBA|MAE}}

|Geneticist and Nobel Laureate

|{{age nts|1949|1|25}}

|-

|22 (201)

|Venki Ramakrishnan{{efn|Venki Ramakrishnan accepts titles, but prefers not to use them and post-nominal initials.}}

|Structural biologist and Nobel Laureate

|{{age nts|1952|4|1}}

|-

|23

|Vacant{{efn|Vacant following the death of Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd on 26 February 2023.}}

|

|

|

|-

|24

|Vacant{{efn|Vacant following the death of Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild on 26 February 2024.}}

|

|

|

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="6" | {{Notelist}}

|}

There have been no honorary members of the Order of Merit since the death of the last such member, Nelson Mandela, in December 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation/content/103836#:~:text=There%20have%20only%20been%2011,of%20Mandela%20in%20December%202013.|title=What is the Order of Merit?|website=thegazette.co.uk|access-date=12 January 2022|archive-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113093054/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation/content/103836#:~:text=There%20have%20only%20been%2011,of%20Mandela%20in%20December%202013.|url-status=live}}

Secretary and Registrar: Robin Janvrin, Baron Janvrin {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|GCB|GCVO|QSO|PC|sep=,}}

As the Order of Merit is open to the citizens of 15 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, the order's postnominal letters follow those of Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, membership in the Order of Merit itself gives members no place in any of the orders of precedence in the United Kingdom. However, Stanley Martin says in his book The Order of Merit 1902–2002: One Hundred Years of Matchless Honour, that the Order of Merit is 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,{{Cite journal| last=Government of Canada| author-link=Government of Canada| title=Order of Merit (O.M.) Order| journal=Canada Gazette| volume=144| issue=25| date=8 December 2010| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| url=http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2010/2010-12-08/html/si-tr88-eng.html| id=SI/2010-88| access-date=10 December 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219053759/http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2010/2010-12-08/html/si-tr88-eng.html| archive-date=19 December 2010}} Christopher McCreery, an expert on Canadian honours and secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, stated that the Order of Merit was the highest civilian award for merit a Canadian could receive.{{cite book| last=McCreery| first=Christopher| author-link=Christopher McCreery| title=The Order of Canada: Its Origins, History and Development| publisher=University of Toronto Press| location=Toronto| year=2005| isbn=0-8020-3940-5}}{{cite news |last=Taber |first=Jane |title=Chrétien 'thrilled' by rare honour from Queen |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=13 July 2009 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chretien-thrilled-by-rare-honour-from-queen/article4194595/ |access-date=1 June 2019 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308145159/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chretien-thrilled-by-rare-honour-from-queen/article4194595/ |url-status=live }}

Some orders of precedence are as follows:

{| class="wikitable"

! Country !! Preceding !! Following

|-

! {{flagicon|AUS}} Australia
Order of wearCommonwealth of Australia Gazette no. S192 of Friday, 28 September 2007.

| Knight/Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle (KT/LT)

| Knight/Dame of the Order of Australia (AK/AD)

|-

! {{flagicon|CAN}} Canada
Order of wear{{cite web |url=https://www.gg.ca/en/order-precedence |author=Office of the Governor General of Canada |author-link=Governor General of Canada |title=Order of Precedence |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=10 June 2019 |date=18 April 2017 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212004125/https://www.gg.ca/en/order-precedence |url-status=live }}

| Cross of Valour (CV)

| Companion of the Order of Canada (CC)

|-

! {{flagicon|NZ}} New Zealand
Order of wear{{cite web |date=2024-05-03 |title=Order of Wear: Orders, Decorations and Medals in New Zealand |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-programmes/new-zealand-royal-honours/honours-lists-and-recipients/information-honours-recipients/order-of-wear-orders-decorations-medals-in-new-zealand |accessdate=2024-10-30 |website=dpmc.govt.nz |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of New Zealand}}

| Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)

| Member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ){{cite web |url=http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/info/orderofwear.html |author=New Zealand Defence Force |title=The Wearing of Medals in New Zealand Table – A guide to the correct order of wear |access-date=1 June 2019 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224124403/https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/nzdf/personnel-archives-and-medals/ |url-status=live }}

|-

! {{flagicon|UK}} United Kingdom

Order of wear{{Cite web |title=Page 325 {{!}} Supplement 62529, 11 January 2019 {{!}} London Gazette {{!}} The Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/62529/supplement/325 |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.thegazette.co.uk}}

| Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)

| Baronet's Badge (Bt){{London Gazette|issue=56878|supp=y|page=3351|date=17 March 2003}}

|}

{{Reflist|group="n"}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book| last=Martin| first=Stanley| title=The Order of Merit: One Hundred Years of Matchless Honour| publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.| year=2007| location=New York City| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWVscq9SdgYC| isbn=978-1-86064-848-9}}

• {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Merit, Order of|short=x}}
• {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Merit, Order of|short=x}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.royal.uk/order-of-merit Order of Merit] – Royal Household website
• [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation/content/103836 What is the Order of Merit?] – The Gazette
• [https://honours.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about/orders-and-medals/#merit The Order of Merit] – UK Cabinet Office
• [https://wawards.org/en/united-kingdom/orders-of-knighthood/order-of-merit.html World Awards – Order of Merit]

{{British Honours System}}

{{Orders, decorations, and medals of Australia}}

{{Canadian Honours System}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Civil awards and decorations of Canada

Category:Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom

Category:Awards established in 1902

Category:1902 establishments in the British Empire

Category:Edward VII