Order of the Companions of Honour

The **Order of the Companions of Honour** is a British award given to citizens of the Commonwealth. It was founded by King George V in 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

The order is limited to 65 _Companions of Honour_.  At first 45 members could be from the United Kingdom, 7 from Australia, 2 from New Zealand and 11 from other Commonwealth countries. Foreigners from outside the realm may be added as "honorary members". Membership of the order gives no title, or precedence, but recipients can put the post-nominal letters "CH" after their names.

The insignia of the Order consists of an oval medallion with an oak tree, a shield with the royal arms hanging from one branch, and on the left a mounted knight in armour.  The badge's clear blue border bears the motto _IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR_. Men wear the badge on a ribbon (red with golden border threads) around their necks, and women on a bow at the left shoulder.

## Current members

- **Sovereign:** Charles III
- **Members:**
    1. The Lord Tebbit <small>CH PC</small> (1987)
    1. The Lord Baker of Dorking <small>CH PC</small> (1992)
    1. The Lord King of Bridgwater <small>CH PC</small> (1992)
    1. Dame Janet Baker <small>CH DBE</small> (1993)
    1. The Lord Owen <small>CH PC</small> (1994)
    1. The Lord Hurd of Westwell <small>CH CBE PC</small> (1995)
    1. Sir David Attenborough <small>OM CH CVO CBE FRS FZS FSA</small> (1996)
    1. The Lord Heseltine <small>CH PC</small> (1997)
    1. David Hockney <small>OM CH RA</small> (1997)
    1. Sir John Major <small>KG CH PC</small> (1998)
    1. The Lord Patten of Barnes <small>KG CH PC</small> (1998)
    1. Bridget Riley <small>CH CBE</small> (1998)
    1. John de Chastelain <small>CH OC CMM CD</small> (1999)
    1. The Lord Hannay of Chiswick <small>GCMG CH</small> (2003)
    1. Dan McKenzie <small>CH FRS</small> (2003)
    1. Dame Judi Dench <small>CH DBE FRSA</small> (2005)
    1. Sir Ian McKellen <small>CH CBE</small> (2008)
    1. The Lord Howard of Lympne <small>CH PC KC</small> (2011)
    1. The Lord Young of Cookham <small>CH PC</small> (2012)
    1. Peter Higgs <small>CH FRS FRSE</small> (2012)
    1. The Lord Coe <small>CH KBE</small> (2012)
    1. The Lord Strathclyde <small>CH PC</small> (2013)
    1. The Lord Campbell of Pittenweem <small>CH CBE PC KC</small> (2013)
    1. Sir Nicholas Serota <small>CH</small> (2013)
    1. The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve <small>CH CBE FRS</small> (2013)
    1. Dame Maggie Smith <small>CH DBE</small> (2014)
    1. The Lord Clarke of Nottingham <small>CH PC KC</small> (2014)
    1. Lady Mary Peters <small>LG CH DBE</small> (2015)
    1. The Lord Woolf <small>CH PC</small> (2015)
    1. Sir Roy Strong <small>CH FRSL</small> (2016)
    1. The Lord Smith of Kelvin <small>KT CH</small> (2016)
    1. The Baroness Amos <small>LG CH PC</small> (2016)
    1. George Osborne <small>CH PC</small> (2016)
    1. Sir Richard Eyre <small>CH CBE</small> (2017)
    1. Dame Evelyn Glennie <small>CH DBE</small> (2017)
    1. Sir Alec Jeffreys <small>CH FRS</small> (2017)
    1. Sir Mark Elder <small>CH CBE</small> (2017)
    1. Sir Paul McCartney <small>CH MBE</small> (2017)
    1. J. K. Rowling <small>CH OBE FRSL</small> (2017)
    1. Dame Stephanie Shirley <small>CH DBE</small> (2017)
    1. Delia Smith <small>CH CBE</small> (2017)
    1. The Lord Stern of Brentford <small>CH FRS</small> <small>FBA</small> (2017)
    1. The Lord Bragg <small>CH FRS</small> <small>FBA FRSL</small> (2018)
    1. Lady Antonia Fraser <small>CH DBE FRSL</small> (2018)
    1. Margaret MacMillan <small>OM</small> <small>CC CH</small> <small>FBA FRSL</small> (2018)
    1. Richard Henderson <small>CH FRS</small> (2018)
    1. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa <small>ONZ CH DBE AC</small> (2018)
    1. Margaret Atwood <small>CC CH FRSL</small> (2019)
    1. The Lord McLoughlin <small>CH PC</small> (2019)
    1. Sir Elton John <small>CH CBE</small> (2019)
    1. Sir Keith Thomas <small>CH</small> (2019)
    1. Sir Paul Smith <small>CH CBE RDI</small> (2020)
    1. Sir David Chipperfield <small>CH CBE</small> <small>RDI</small> <small>RA</small> (2021)
    1. Sir Paul Nurse <small>OM CH FRS</small> (2022)
    1. The Lord Field of Birkenhead <small>CH PC</small> (2022)
    1. Sir Quentin Blake <small>CH CBE</small> <small>FRSL RDI</small> (2022)
    1. Sir Salman Rushdie <small>CH</small> <small>FRSL</small> (2022)
    1. Dame Marina Warner <small>CH DBE</small> <small>FBA FRSL</small> (2022)
    1. Sir Michael Marmot <small>CH</small> <small>FBA</small> (2023)
    1. Sir John Bell <small>GBE CH FRS</small> (2023)
    1. Ian McEwan <small>CH CBE FRSL</small> (2023)
    1. Dame Anna Wintour <small>CH DBE</small> (2023)
    1. Dame Shirley Bassey <small>CH DBE</small> (2024)
    1. The Princess of Wales <small>GCVO CH</small> (2024)
    1. Gordon Brown <small>CH</small> (2024)

- **Honorary Members:**
    1. Amartya Sen <small>CH FBA</small> (2000)

## Other websites

- - Order of the Companions of Honour page

## Infobox (order)

- **title**: Order of the Companions of Honour
- **image**:
- **caption**: Riband and badge of the "Companions of Honour"
- **awarded by**: the Commonwealth realm, sovereign of the Commonwealth realms
- **type**: Order (decoration), Order
- **motto**: _IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR_
- **for**: Nationally important service
- **status**: Currently awarded
- **head title**: Sovereign
- **head**: Charles III
- **grades**: Companion (CH)
- **date**: 1917
- **image2**:
- **caption2**: Ribbon bar of the order