Merit, Order of

▪ British honour

      British honorary institution founded by Edward VII in 1902 to reward those who provided especially eminent service in the armed forces or particularly distinguished themselves in science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. The order is limited to only 24 members, although the British monarch can appoint foreigners as “honorary members.” The order carries no title of knighthood, but a member is entitled to add “O.M.” after his name. It has a civilian and a military division. Both men and women are admitted into the order; Florence Nightingale (Nightingale, Florence) was the first woman awarded the honour (1907), and not another woman received the order until the induction of Dorothy Hodgkin in 1965. The badge of the order portrays a crown with the motto “For Merit.” An Indian Order of Merit (no longer in existence) was established in 1837.

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