The Legion of Merit was a

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

n order of merit awarded to both civilian and military recipients for service to Rhodesia.

Institution

The award was instituted in 1970 by Presidential Warrant, the first awards being made the same year. The last awards were made in June 1980. The civil class was suspended from a green and gold ribbon. The military class differed by featuring a red stripe on the green and gold ribbon.

Classes

There were five classes of the order: *Grand Commander (GCLM) *Grand Officer (GLM) *Commander (CLM) *Officer (OLM) *Member (MLM) The incumbent

President of Rhodesia The president of Rhodesia was the head of state of Rhodesia from 1970 to 1979. As Rhodesia reckoned itself a parliamentary republic rather than a presidential republic at the time, the president's post was almost entirely ceremonial, and the r ...

served as Grand Master of the Legion of Merit. Recipients of the order were entitled to the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

indicated above. It was retained by the government of

Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, and sometimes as Rhobabwe, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June to 12 December 1979. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was p ...

as well, the President of that state also serving as Grand Master.

Zimbabwe

The Legion of Merit was superseded in April 1981''Zimbabwe Government Statutory Instrument No. 197A of 1981'', 17 April 1981. by the

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Order of Merit, which is awarded to civilians as well as military personnel for eminent achievement and services to Zimbabwe.

Notable recipients

While the higher grades of the order were used almost exclusively by

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...

government to reward political service, recipients of the lower and middle grades included a number of notable military leaders, community leaders and civil servants.

Grand Commanders

There were only 5 GCLMs: No GCLMs were ever awarded in the Military Division.

Grand Officers

There were 28 GLMs (Civil Division):

Commanders

There were 32 CLMs (Civil Division) and 4 CLMs (Military Division).

Others

There were 126 OLMs (Civil Division). There were 35 OLMs (Military Division) and 10 OLMs (Military Division) (Combatant). There were 300 MLMs (Civil Division), 55 MLMs (Military Division) and 10 MLMs (Military Division) (Combatant).

References

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External links

Orders, Medals and Decorations of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia
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Orders, decorations, and medals of Rhodesia Awards established in 1970 1970 establishments in Rhodesia