Order of Merit Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by King Edward VII, admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign—currently Edward VII's great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II—and is restricted to a maximum of 24 living recipients from the Commonwealth realms, plus a limited number of honorary members. While all members are awarded the right to use the post-nominal letters "OM" and wear the badge of the order, the Order of Merit's precedence among other
Order of Canada in 1970, Michener presented the Queen with her Sovereign's badge for the Order of Canada, which she first wore during a banquet in Yellowknife in July 1970. From the Order of Canada grew a Canadian honours system, thereby reducing the use of British honours (i.e. those administered by the Queen in her British privy council). Among the civilian awards of the Canadian honours system, the Order of Canada comes third, after the Cross of Valour and membership in the Order of Merit, which is within the personal gift of Canada's monarch. By the 1980s, Canada's provinces began to develop their