Order of Merit

The **Order of Merit** () is an award, for notable work in various fields such as, armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. The order was set up in 1902, by Edward VII. Membership of the order is a personal gift of its Sovereign (the monarch does not take advice from politicians about who should be a member). The sovereign of the order is the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms. The award is limited to 24 living recipients at any one time from these countries, plus a small number of honorary members. 

Whilst all members can use the post-nominal letters *OM* and a medallion for life, the Order of Merit's precedence, amongst other honours, differs between Commonwealth realms.

## History
The award filled a gap in the honour system under Queen Victoria. It was only possible to reward people who held official positions. So, for example, T.H. Huxley could be rewarded because he had sat on Royal Commissions, but Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace held no official positions. Without question their work was as important as Huxley's, or more so. This kind of problem was known by Edward VII, and when he eventually became king, he drew up this new award which had no such limitations. The idea had been discussed before.

The first mention of a possible Order of Merit was made after the Battle of Trafalgar, in 1805. It was discussed in letters between the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Barham and Prime Minister William Pitt. Nothing came from the idea. Later, Queen Victoria, her courtiers, and politicians, all 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 of public service, in realms such as art, music, literature, industry, and science. The concept did not wither and, on 5 January 1888, British prime minister the Marquess of Salisbury submitted to the 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, Sir Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy, advised against the new order, primarily because of its selection process.
, 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 planned 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"; all modern aspects of the order were established under his direction, including the division for military figures. the Order of Merit remained an honour open to all the King's realms; thus, as with the monarch who conferred it, the order ceased to be purely British.

From the start, the order has been open to women, Florence Nightingale being the first woman to receive the honour, in 1907. Several people have not taken the honour, such as Rudyard Kipling, A. E. Housman, and George Bernard Shaw. To date, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, remains the youngest person ever inducted into the Order of Merit, having been admitted by Queen Elizabeth II, in 1968, when he was 47 years of age. Within the limited membership is a designated military division, with its own unique insignia; though it has not been abolished, it is currently unused, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma having been the last person so honoured. the insignia for the military grouping has 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; men wear their badges on a neck ribbon, while women carry theirs on a ribbon bow pinned to the left shoulder, and aides-de-camp may wear the insignia on their aiguillettes.

## Current members
***Sovereign:** King Charles III

;Members

# The Lord Foster of Thames Bank OM appointed 25 November 1997 
# Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS appointed 9 May 2000 
# Neil MacGregor OM AO FSA appointed 4 November 2010 
# David Hockney OM CH appointed 1 January 2012 
# John Howard OM AC appointed 1 January 2012 
# Sir Magdi Yacoub OM FRS appointed 1 January 2014 
# Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FRS FREng appointed 31 December 2015 
# Dame Elizabeth Anionwu OM DBE appointed 11 November 2022

;Honorary members
(none)

## Precedence in each realm
As the Order of Merit is open to the citizens of sixteen different 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, members rank below Knights and Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, it has been claimed by Stanley Martin, in his book *The Order of Merit 1902-2002: One Hundred Years of Matchless Honour*, that the Order of Merit is actually 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, except relating to those who were appointed to the order prior to 1 June 1972, both Christopher McCreery, an expert on Canadian honours and secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, an editor of ''Burke's Peerage'',  stated that the Order of Merit was the highest civilian award for merit a Canadian could receive.

Some orders of precedence are as follows:

## Past members
### Substantive members
, first British member of the Order of Merit]]
, the first female member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1907]]
, first New Zealand member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1925]]
, the first Australian member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1930]]
, the first South African member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1947]]
, the first Canadian member of the Order of Merit, appointed in 1947]]

### Honorary members
 (Agnesë Bojaxhiu) was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1983]]

## Notes
## References
## References
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