Order of Merit "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. Victoria's son, King Edward VII, 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
Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown to the statutes were also made on 16 February 1824, on 12 October 1834, and on 12 January 1835 Oktober 1838. The statutes were further modified in 1855 for the addition of the Grand Commander grade. Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown The Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown () was an order of merit of the Kingdom of Bavaria established by King Maximilian Joseph I on 19 March 1808. The motto of the order is Virtus et Honos ('Courage and Honour'). The order was awarded in several grades: Grand Commander, Grand Cross, Commander, Knight, and medals in