The Order of Merit is part of the

Jamaican honours system The Jamaican honours system has developed as a unique entity since the passage of the ''National Honours and Awards Act'' by the Parliament of Jamaica in 1969 (Act No. 21 of 1969). The system is modelled largely on the British honours system, which ...

, and it is the fourth-highest honour awarded by the nation of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or distinguished citizens of other countries who have achieved international distinction in the field of science, the arts, literature or any other endeavour."National Awards of Jamaica"
Jamaica Information Service, accessed May 12, 2015. The award can be held by no more than 15 living persons.Jamaica hails heroes today
", The Jamaica Observer, October 21, 2002. It is not given to more than two people in any one year. Members and Honorary Members of the order are entitled to wear the insignia of the order as a decoration and to be styled "

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

". In addition, they can append 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, ...

OM to their names, or OM (Hon.) in the case of Honorary Members. The order's motto is "He that does the truth comes into the light." The Order of Merit was originally one that was awarded to foreign heads of state, but this function was taken over by the Order of Excellence in 2003.''Chancery of the Societies of Honour - Ensuring that Jamaicans are Rewarded for Excellence''
Jamaican Information Service, retrieved January 8, 2007

Recipients

Source:

Living

* Donald Jasper Harris (2021) *

Orlando Patterson Horace Orlando Patterson (born 5 June 1940) is a Jamaican historical and cultural sociologist known for his work regarding issues of race and slavery in the United States and Jamaica, as well as the sociology of development. He is the John Cowl ...

(2020) *

Anthony Abraham Chen Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

(2008)Manning, Gareth.
Glory for ordinary heroes
", The Jamaica Gleaner, October 21, 2008. *

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...

()Jimmy Cliff, OM - Singer receives Ja's third highest honour; Baugh, Harding, Hendrickson, Miller get OJ
", The Jamaica Observer, August 7, 2003. *

Gerald Lalor Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iri ...

* Albert Belville Lockhart, co-inventor of CanasolBrady, Pete. "http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/59.html ", Cannabis Culture magazine, January 16, 2000.M E West and J Homi. "Cannabis as a medicine." Br. J. Anaesth. (1996) 76(1): 167 *Sir

Meredith Alister McIntyre Meredith is a Welsh Brittonic family name, and is also sometimes used as a girl's or boy's forename. The Welsh form is "Maredudd". People * Meredith (given name) * Meredith (surname) Places Australia * Meredith, Victoria United States * Meredi ...

Order of Merit (OM)
", Government of Jamaica (Office of the Prime Minister), 2008. *

Mervyn Morris Mervyn Eustace Morris OM (born 21 February 1937) is a poet and professor emeritus at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. According to educator Ralph Thompson, "In addition to his poetry, which has ranked him among the top West In ...

103 for national awards
, The Jamaica Gleaner, August 6, 2009 *Sir

Shridath Ramphal Sir Shridath Surendranath Ramphal (born 3 October 1928), often known as Sir Sonny Ramphal, is a Guyanese politician who was the second Commonwealth Secretary-General, holding the position from 1975 to 1990. He was also the foreign minister of ...

* Edward Robinson (2008) *

Manley Elisha West Manley may refer to: * Manley (surname) * Manley (given name) * Manley, Cheshire, England, a village and civil parish * Manley, Devon, a location in England * Manley, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Manley, Minnesota, United ...

, co-inventor of Canasol *Sir

Willard White Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE (born 10 October 1946) is a Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone. Early life White was born into a Jamaican family in Kingston. His father was a dockworker, his mother a housewife. White first beg ...

(2000)White heads list with OM
, The Jamaica Observer, August 7, 2000.

Deceased

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...

Louise Bennett-Coverley Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou (7 September 1919 – 26 July 2006), was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, writer, and educator. Writing and performing her poems in Jamaican Patois or Creole, Bennett worked to preserve the practice of p ...

(2001)Jamaican folklorist Miss Lou dies at 86
, CBC News, July 27, 2006. *Cardinal

William Knibb William Knibb, OM (7 September, 1803 Kettering – 15 November 1845) was an English Baptist minister and missionary to Jamaica. He is chiefly known today for his work to free enslaved Africans. On the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slav ...

(1845) *

Thomas Lecky Thomas Phillip Lecky, known as T.P. Lecky (1904-1994), was a Jamaican scientist who developed several new breeds of cattle. Lecky is known as one of Jamaica's earliest environmentalists, and a strong advocate for conservation of hillsides. His rese ...

*The Most Honourable

Edna Manley Edna Swithenbank Manley, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (28 February 1900 – 2 February 1987) is considered one of the most important artists and arts educators in Jamaica. She was known primarily as a sculptor although her oeuvre included signi ...

(1980)Scott-Williams, Tamara.
The courthouse burned, but the art lives
, The Jamaica Observer, March 4, 2007. *The Most Honourable

Michael Manley Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been d ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

() *

Herb McKenley The Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley OM (10 July 1922 – 26 November 2007) was a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals. Born in Pleasant Vall ...

(2004)Davidson, Taneisha.
Honour to whom honour is due.
, The Jamaica Observer, October 17, 2004. *

Rex Nettleford Ralston Milton "Rex" Nettleford, OM, FIJ, OCC (3 February 1933 – 2 February 2010), was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading research university ...

Taylor, Dr. Orville.
Dutty tuff!
, The Jamaica Gleaner, July 30, 2006. *

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu E.N. (2012) Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands. ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British-Jamaican nurse and businesswoman who set up t ...

(1990, posthumously) *Sir

Philip Manderson Sherlock Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

(1989)Sir Philip Manderson Sherlock (1902-2000)
", The National Library of Jamaica. *

M. G. Smith Michael Garfield Smith OM (18 August 1921 – 5 January 1993) was a Jamaican social anthropologist and poet of international repute. Biography Born in Kingston, Jamaica, M.G. Smith was always a brilliant scholar. When he was a schoolboy at J ...

(1972)Michael G. Smith, 71, Anthropology Teacher
, The New York Times, January 7, 1993. *

Carl Stone Carl Stone (born Carl Joseph Stone, February 10, 1953) is an American composer, primarily working in the field of live electronic music. His works have been performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and the ...

(1993)Ailing Pollster's Contributions Are Recognized
, The Miami Herald, February 25, 1993. *

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

(2012, posthumously)Bonitto, Brian (2012)
Tosh gets OM
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 7 August 2012, retrieved 7 August 2012. * Cicely Williams *

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

Order of Merit
, Office of the Prime Minister. *Sir

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

References

External links

Official website
{{JamaicanHonours Merit, Order of Orders of merit