Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V . The Order is composed of five classes in civil and military divisions . In descending order of seniority , these are : Only the highest two ranks automatically entitle its recipient to become a knight or dame , an honour allowing ( but not prescribing ) the postulant to use the title " Sir " ( male ) or " Dame " ( female ) before his or her first name ( though men can be knighted separately from this and other Orders of Chivalry ) . Honorary knighthoods , given to individuals who are not nationals of a realm where Queen Elizabeth II is Head of State , permit use of the honour as a post - nominal but not as a title before their name . Awards in the Order of the British Empire in the Commonwealth Realms were discontinued with the establishment of national systems of honours and awards such as the Order of Canada , the Order of Australia and the New Zealand Order of Merit . Foreign recipients are classified as honorary members of the Order they receive , and do not contribute to the numbers restricted to that Order as full members do . There is also a related British Empire Medal , whose recipients are not members of the Order , but who are nonetheless affiliated with the Order . The British Empire Medal had not been used in the United Kingdom or its dependencies since 1993 , but was revived in 2012 with 293 BEMs awarded for the Queen ' s Diamond Jubilee . In addition , BEM is used by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations . The Order ' s motto is " For God and the Empire " . It is the most junior of the British orders of chivalry , and the largest , with over 100 , 000 living members worldwide . History . King George V founded the order to fill gaps in the British honours system : In particular , King George V wished to honour the many thousands of people who had served in numerous non - combatant capacities during the First World War . Originally , the Order included only one division ; however , in 1918 , soon after its foundation , it was formally divided into Military and Civil Divisions . Several previous foreign statesmen and diplomats who have performed service for , or on behalf of , the United Kingdom have been given the designations of Knight Commander or Knight Grand Cross of the Order . However , since membership requires swearing allegiance to a foreign Head of State ( currently Queen Elizabeth II ) , these titles are officially considered " honorary " , and the person is not entitled to be referred to as " Sir " or " Dame " . Occasionally the media incorrectly refer to foreign recipients with the prefix title , an example being Bob Geldof KBE , a citizen of the Republic of Ireland . Composition . The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order , and appoints all other members of the Order ( by convention , on the advice of the Government ) . The next most senior member is the Grand Master , of which there have been three : Prince Edward , the Prince of Wales ( 1917 – 1936 ) ; Queen Mary ( 1936 – 1953 ) ; and the current Grand Master , the Duke of Edinburgh ( since 1953 ) . The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross , 845 Knights and Dames Commander , and 8 , 960 Commanders . There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes , but no more than 858 Officers and 1 , 464 Members may be appointed per year . Appointments are made on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realm s . By convention , female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment , while male judges become Knights Bachelor . Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British Orders of Chivalry , there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders . Most Knights Commander are honorary members or British citizens living abroad , with only a handful being residents of the United Kingdom . The grade of Dame Commander , on the other hand , is the most common grade of dame in the British honours system , and is awarded in circumstances in which men would be created Knights Bachelor . Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the limited number of Commonwealth realms without their own national system of honours and awards . Citizens of other countries , however , may be admitted as " honorary members " . They do not count towards the aforementioned numerical limits , and are not formally addressed as " Sir " or " Dame " . They may be made full members if they subsequently become citizens of Commonwealth realms . See List of honorary British Knights . At the foundation of the Order , the " Medal of the Order of the British Empire " was instituted . In 1922 , it was renamed the " British Empire Medal " . Recipients , who are not members of the Order itself , are grouped into the Civil and Military Divisions . Only junior government and military officials are awarded the medal ; senior officials are directly appointed to the Order of the British Empire . The United Kingdom ' s Government ceased recommending the awarding of the medal in 1992 , although some Commonwealth realms continued the practice , but resumed in June 2012 with awards to 293 people . The Order has six officials : the Prelate ; the Dean ; the Secretary ; the Registrar ; the King of Arms ; and the Usher . The Bishop of London , a senior bishop in the Church of England , serves as the Order ' s Prelate . The Dean of St Paul ' s is " ex officio " the Dean of the Order . The Order ' s King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms , as are many other heraldic officers . The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod ; he does not – unlike his Order of the Garter equivalent , the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod – perform any duties related to the House of Lords . From time to time , individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order , thereby ceasing usage of the junior post - nominal letters . Gallantry . From 1940 the Sovereign could appoint a person as a Commander , Officer or Member of the Order of the British Empire for gallantry , for acts of bravery ( not in the face of the enemy ) which ranked below the level required for the George Medal , with the grade being determined by the same criteria as usual and not by the level of gallantry ( and with more junior people instead receiving the British Empire Medal ) . Oddly , this meant that it was awarded for lesser acts of gallantry than the George Medal , but , as an Order , was worn before it and listed before it in post - nominal initials . From 14 January 1958 , these awards were designated the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry . Any individual made a member of the Order for gallantry could wear an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same riband , ribbon or bow as the badge . It could not be awarded posthumously and was effectively replaced in 1974 with the Queen ' s Gallantry Medal . If recipients of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the Order , whether for gallantry or otherwise , they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves . However , they only used the post - nominal letters of the higher grade . Vestments and accoutrements . Members of the Order wear elaborate costumes on important occasions ( such as quadrennial services and coronations ) , which vary by rank ( the designs underwent major changes in 1937 ) : On certain " collar day s " designated by the Sovereign , members attending formal events may wear the Order ' s collar over their military uniform , formal day dress , or evening wear . When collars are worn ( either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations ) , the badge is suspended from the collar . Collars are returned upon the death of their owners , but other insignia may be retained . At less important occasions , simpler insignia are used : Chapel . The chapel of the order is in the far eastern end of the crypt of St Paul ' s Cathedral , but it holds its great services upstairs in the main body of the Cathedral . ( The Cathedral also serves as the home of the chapel of The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George . ) Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years ; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services . The chapel was dedicated in 1960 . Precedence and privileges . Members of all classes of the Order are assigned positions in the order of precedence . Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence , as do sons , daughters and daughters - in - law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander ; relatives of Ladies of the Order , however , are not assigned any special precedence . As a general rule , individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands , but not from their mothers or wives ( see order of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions ) . Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefix " Sir " , and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefix " Dame " , to their forenames . Wives of Knights may prefix " Lady " to their surnames , but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Dames . Such forms are not used by peers and princes , except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms . Male clergy of the Church of England or the Church of Scotland do not use the title " Sir " as they do not receive the accolade ( i . e . , they are not dubbed " knight " with a sword ) , although they do append the post - nominal letters . Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post - nominal , " GBE " ; Knights Commander , " KBE " ; Dames Commander , " DBE " ; Commanders , " CBE " ; Officers , " OBE " ; and Members , " MBE " . The post - nominal for the British Empire Medal is " BEM " . Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commander who are not citizens of Commonwealth realm s can be awarded honorary titles , but do not receive the accolade and are not entitled to the prefix " Sir " or " Dame " , but may still use the post - nominal abbreviations . For example , American Bill Gates was made a Knight Commander , but is not entitled " Sir Bill " or " Sir Bill Gates " , although he may use the title " Bill Gates , KBE " . Bob Geldof , KBE received a knighthood in 1986 and although he is often referred to as " Sir Bob " , he is not a citizen of a Commonwealth realm and he is not entitled to use the prefix " Sir " . If recipients later become citizens of Commonwealth realms , then they are usually made substantive members of the Order , and are entitled to begin using the Sir prefix . For example , Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan was appointed an honorary KBE in 2005 . He subsequently took dual British and Irish nationality , was made a substantive member , and is now entitled to use the name , " Sir Terry Wogan " . Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to be granted heraldic supporters . They may , furthermore , encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet ( a circle bearing the motto ) and the collar ; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter . Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet , but not the collar , surrounding their arms . The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet . Criticism . The order has attracted some criticism for its connection with the idea of the British Empire . Benjamin Zephaniah , a British Jamaican poet , publicly rejected an OBE in 2003 because , he claimed it reminded him of " thousands of years of brutality " . He went on to say : " It reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised . " In 2004 , a House of Commons Select Committee recommended changing the name of the award to the " Order of British Excellence " and changing the rank of " Commander " to " Companion " , as the former was said to have a " militaristic ring " . A notable person to decline the offer of membership was the author C . S . Lewis ( 1898 – 1963 ) , who had been named on the last list of honours by George VI in December 1951 but declined so as to avoid association with any political issues . Another is David Bowie , in 2000 . The members of The Beatles were made MBEs in 1965 . John Lennon justified the comparative merits of his investiture by comparing military membership in the order : " Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE [ status ] received theirs for heroism in the war – for killing people … We received ours for entertaining other people . I ' d say we deserve ours more . " Lennon returned his MBE insignia on 25 November 1969 as part of his ongoing peace protests . Other criticism centres on the claim that many recipients of the Order are being rewarded with honours for simply doing their jobs , they claim that the civil service and judiciary receive far more orders and honours than leaders of other professions . Chin Peng , long - time leader of the Malayan Communist Party , was appointed an OBE for his share in fighting against the Japanese during World War II , in close cooperation with the British commando Force 136 . It was withdrawn by the British government ( and became undesirable for Chin Peng himself ) when the Communist leader headed his party ' s guerrilla insurgency against the British in the Malayan Emergency .