The Order for Meritorious Service is a South African National Order that consisted of two classes, in gold and silver, and was awarded to deserving South African citizens. The order was discontinued on 2 December 2002.
(Accessed 1 May 2015)

Institution

The Order for Meritorious Service was instituted by the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1986, by Warrant published in Government Gazette no. 10493 dated 24 October 1986. It superseded the earlier

Decoration for Meritorious Services The Decoration for Meritorious Services was an honour conferred until 1987 by the Government of the Republic of South Africa, usually for political services to the country. The appointments were made by the State President of South Africa. Pos ...

. The order could be awarded in two classes: * The Order for Meritorious Service, Class I, Gold, post-nominal letters OMSG, for exceptional merit. * The Order for Meritorious Service, Class II, Silver, post-nominal letters OMSS, for outstanding merit.

Award criteria

The Order was awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President, to South Africans who had rendered exceptional public service. Recipients included cabinet ministers, judges, captains of commerce and industry, church leaders, academics, sports stars and prominent figures in the arts and sciences.

Order of wear

The positions of the two classes of the Order for Meritorious Service in the official order of precedence were revised three times after 1986 to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first with the integration process of 1994, again when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory para-military forces, the

Azanian People's Liberation Army The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), formerly known as Poqo, was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language, the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'. After attacks on ...

and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again with the institution of new sets of awards in 2002 and 2003.South African Medal Website - Post-nominal Letters
(Accessed 28 April 2015)

Order for Meritorious Service, Gold

;Official national order of precedence until 26 April 1994: * Preceded by the

Star of South Africa, Gold The Star of South Africa, Gold, post-nominal letters SSA, is the senior decoration of two military and five non-military classes of the Order of the Star of South Africa, a South African Order which was instituted in 1975, for award to general a ...

and Star of South Africa, Grand Cross. * Succeeded by the

Order of Good Hope The Order of Good Hope or Order of the Cape of Good Hope is a dormant order of merit of the Republic of South Africa. History The Order of Good Hope was founded in 1973, by the republican government of South Africa, to grant those who had disti ...

, Class I, Grand Collar/Grand Cross.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993 ;Official national order of precedence from 27 April 1994: * Preceded by the Order of Thohoyandou, Special Class, Grand Cross of the

Republic of Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...

. * Succeeded by the Order of Transkei, Class I, Grand Cross (GCT) of the Republic of Transkei.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Gold in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.

Order for Meritorious Service, Silver

;Official national order of precedence until 26 April 1994: * Preceded by the Star of South Africa, Silver and Star of South Africa, Grand Officer. * Succeeded by the

, Class II, Grand Officer, Silver.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993 ;Official national order of precedence from 27 April 1994: * Preceded by the Order of Indwe, Class I of the Republic of Ciskei. * Succeeded by the Order of Transkei, Class II, Grand Officer (GOT) of the Republic of Transkei.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Silver in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.

Description

Both classes share the same ribbon and are worn around the neck. ;Obverse The badge of the Order is a white-enamelled gold or silver gable cross that displays the national arms on a shield in the centre of a smaller gold or silver cross paty. ;Reverse The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms. ;Suspender The suspender is in the form of the crest of the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms, a lion holding four staves to represent the four provinces of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, above an outline of an inverted gable. ;Breast star The breast star consists of the badge of the order superimposed on a four-pointed multi-rayed diagonal star. ;Ribbon The original ribbon was 35 millimetres wide and in the colours of the 1928 South African flag, with a 6 millimetres wide dark blue band, a 4 millimetres wide white band and a 5½ millimetres wide orange band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 4 millimetres wide white band. A new ribbon was introduced in 1996, in the colours of the new post-1994 South African flag. It is also 35 millimetres wide with (approximate widths) a 2 millimetres wide red band, a 2 millimetres wide white band, a 7½ millimetres wide green band and a 5 millimetres wide yellow band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 2 millimetres wide black band, but with the red band at left replaced by a 2 millimetres wide blue band at right.

Discontinuation

Conferment of the decoration was discontinued in 2003 when a new set of national orders was instituted.

Recipients

The known recipients are listed in the table.Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 24977, Pretoria, 28 February 2003 (Retrieved 2015-02-16) Note: denotes a posthumous award.

References

{{South African honours system Orders of South Africa Awards established in 1986 1986 establishments in South Africa Awards disestablished in 2002 2002 disestablishments in South Africa