Order of Merit Merit was the highest civilian award for merit a Canadian could receive. Some orders of precedence are as follows: 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
Indian Order of Merit To be obtained by those who already possess the third and for similar services. Eight pointed gold star with blue circle, surrounded by gold laurels in the middle, with crossed swords and the words "Awarded for Valour", this was changed to "Awarded for Gallantry" in 1944. To be obtained in like manner only by those who possess the third and second classes. Dark Blue ribbon flanked by two red stripes of about a sixth of the width. Indian Order of Merit The Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was a military and civilian decoration of British India. It was established in