The Sovereign will name some days "collar days". On these days, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or evening wear. When collars are worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations), the badge is hung from the collar.
All collars which have been awarded since 1948 must be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. The other symbols can be kept..
The original home of the Order was the Palace of St Michael and St George in Corfu This was the home of the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. It was also the location of the Ionian Senate meetings.
Since 1906, the Order's chapel has been in St Paul's Cathedral in London. (The Cathedral also serves as home to the chapels of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor.) Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years. New Knights and Dames Grand Cross are 'installed' at these services (this means that they are officially appointed and make an oath of loyalty to the Sovereign).
The Sovereign and the Knights and Dames Grand Cross have stalls in the choir's area of the chapel.
Over their stall, their heraldic devices are displayed: The Knight's helm, decorated with a mantling (cloth tied to the helpmet) and topped by his crest (often an animal).
Under English heraldic law, women who are not monarchs do not bear helms or crests - this is because in the past, women did not fight in wars or tournaments, so they did not have a helmet. Instead of a helmet, Dames will have a coronet (a small crown). The exact design will depend on how important the Dame's is in society.
Above the crest or coronet hangs the Knight or Dame's heraldic banner, showing the coat of arms. At the back of the stall there is a piece of brass (a "stall plate") displaying its occupant's name, arms and date of admission into the Order. Upon the death of a Knight, the banner, helm, mantling and crest are taken down. The stall plates are not removed, but remain permanently placed somewhere in the stall, so that the stalls of the chapel are covered with a colourful record of the Order's Knights and Dames Grand Cross since 1906.
The reredos (decorated panels) within the chapel were designed by Henry Poole, in 1927.
Members of the Order of St Michael are given positions in the order of precedence (the order in which members of the nobility should be placed in a procession or other events). Wives of male members are also given positions in the order of precedence. So are sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders. Relatives of female members are not given any special precedence.
Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders use the title "Sir" before their given name, and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commanders use "Dame". For example, John Smith and Jane Doe would be called "Sir John Smith" and "Dame Jane Doe".
Wives of Knights may use the title "Lady" before their surname (for example "Lady Smith"), but husbands of Dames have no title.
These titles are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of peers are written out in their fullest forms. Honorary members (usually members from other countries) and clergymen do not receive the accolade or use the title.
Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal "GCMG". Knights Commanders and Dames Commanders use "KCMG" and "DCMG" respectively. Companions use "CMG". Examples are:
Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also allowed to receive heraldic supporters (figures on either side of the shield, which look like they are holding it up). These may be real or imaginary animals, or human figures. They may also surround their arms with the design of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar. The circlet is shown either outside or on top of the collar.
Knights and Dames Commanders and Companions may display the circlet (but not the collar) around their arms. The badge is depicted hanging from the collar or circlet.
In the satirical British television programme, "Yes Minister", Jim Hacker MP is told an old joke by his Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley, about what the different post-nominals mean.
Ian Fleming's spy, James Bond, was appointed to the CMG, in 1953 (mentioned in the novel "From Russia, with Love"). He was offered the KCMG in "The Man with the Golden Gun", but he would not take it, as he did not wish to become a public figure.
Gilbert Thomas Carter
Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter KCMG (Greenwich, Kent, 14 January 1848 – Barbados, 18 January 1927) was an administrative officer in the Royal Navy and later a colonial official for the British Empire.
Starting as a Collector of Customs for the Gold Coast, he later became the Treasurer of the Gold Coast and The Gambia. Changing his career to administration, he started as the Administrator for The Gambia, where he dealt with the aggression of the native King of Gambia. He then became Governor for the Lagos where he negotiated on treaties with the local chiefs which protected Christian missionaries and ending human sacrifices. He later served as the Governors for The Bahamas and Barbados and finally as the Governor for Trinidad and Tobago.
Carter was the only son of Thomas Gilbert Carter who was a Commander in the Royal Navy. He was educated at the Royal Naval School in Greenwich.
Carter joined the Royal Navy in 1864, working as an Assistant Clerk on different ships. He also worked as a Clerk and as an Assistant Paymaster (the person responsible for paying everyone). His final job in the Royal Navy was on a Colonial steamer. While he was on this ship, he took part in the third war between England and the Ashanti people on the Gold Coast (now Ghana).
When the town of Elmina was sold to the British by the Dutch Government, he was a commissioner, responsible for valuing the military supplies left behind by the Dutch. He left the Navy on 21 July 1875.
In 1875, Carter became the private secretary to Sir George Berkeley who was the Governor of the Leeward Islands. In August 1879, he became Collector of Customs and Treasurer of the Gold Coast.
From 1882 until December 1888, Carter was in charge of the "Settlement" (the British colony) on The Gambia as a Treasurer and Postmaster. From 1886, he was acting Administrator of the Colony of the Gambia, until 1 December 1888, when he was given the job as full Administrator on the Gambia's separation from Sierra Leone.
On 1 January 1890, Carter was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).
In 1891, the native King of Gambia had been organising abusive acts towards the British colonists. Carter sent an envoy from his official residence in Bathurst with a message that if the abuses continued, "he might expect a visit of a disciplinary nature from the marine forces of the Queen of England." (This means that the British Navy would send warships to punish the King.) The King sent the envoy back mutilated, with a message: "This is the King's answer." In response, Carter sent three British gunboats to get revenge for the bad treatment shown to the envoy.
On 3 February 1891, Carter became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Lagos (now Nigeria). In 1892, Carter ordered an attack on the Ijebu tribe (of the Yoruba people) "in the interest of civilisation". Afterwards, he continued to say that this attack was a war to end slavery and promote civilisation. In early 1893, Carter travelled to various parts of Yorubaland, travelling with soldiers, in an attempt to show the power of the British. Some of the tribal chiefs did not want Carter there, and told him not to interfere with the slavery trade.