The New Zealand Defence Meritorious Service Medal is a military award of the

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...

(NZDF). Established by Royal Warrant 15 October 2013, the medal may be awarded to recognize meritorious exceptional performance, commitment, or innovation. Military and civilian personnel of the NZDF are eligible for this award regardless of rank or time in service. It will supersede the New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal.

Appearance

The New Zealand Defence Meritorious Service Medal is made of silver and circular in shape. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

of the medal bears the effigy of the Sovereign, currently the effigy designed by

Ian Rank-Broadley Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS (born 1952) is a British sculptor who has produced many acclaimed works, among which are several designs for British coinage and the memorial statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London unveiled on her 60th ...

, surrounded by the Royal Styles and Titles for New Zealand. The reverse bears the inscriptions ''FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE'' and ''HE TOHU HIRANGA'' surrounded by a wreath of fern fronds surmounted by

St Edward's Crown St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th cen ...

. The medal was designed by the New Zealand Herald of Arms, Phillip O’Shea . O’Shea has designed many of the New Zealand awards created since 1973. The medal is suspended from crimson ribbon, wide, with three central stripes of white, green, and white with two narrow yellow stripes at the edges. Crimson has served as the ribbon color of long service and merit awards, starting with the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1830. In 1887, a distinctive New Zealand award the New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal utilised a crimson ribbon with two white centre stripes. The imperial Meritorious Service Medal for New Zealand and the subsequent 1985 New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal also used a crimson ribbon, but with a green centre stripe. The ribbon of the New Zealand Defence Meritorious Service Medal integrates the green centre stripe, flanked by two white stripes recalling the history of and linking this medal to the awards that came before. The yellow edge stripes represent achievement or brilliance. Subsequent awards of the medal will be depicted by bars made of silver and silver-gilt bearing a single fern frond. In undress, when a

service ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

is worn alone, a small silver rosette may be worn on the ribbon for each of the first three bars awarded. When a fourth bar is awarded, the silver rosettes are replaced by a silver-gilt rosette. An additional silver-gilt rosette is worn for each subsequent bar conferred.

References

{{NZ Long & Meritorious Service Medals Military awards and decorations of New Zealand New Zealand Meritorious & Long Service Awards Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth