On November 13, 2003, according to the demands for removal of the disparity between public and private for decoration in Japan and for various viewpoints in selecting the recipients, the Decrees of Cabinet were amended so that the medals for merit except for the supreme order, i.e., the grades represented by number, were abolished (but provisions of the amended Decrees of Cabinet still describe the word 'medal for merit,' which means that they merely prohibit the people from declaring the medals for merit and that the concept of the medals for merit still remains.)
2003年（平成15年）11月3日以降、日本の勲章の官民格差是正と多角的な観点を求める声に基づいて太政官布告が改正され、大勲位以外の、数字で表現する等級としての勲等は廃止された（ただし、改正後の太政官布告の条文にも引き続き「勲等」の文言があり、表記ができなくなっただけで概念としては残っている）。