The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration (DSD) was instituted by Royal Warrant as a New Zealand Royal Honour in 2007 to recognise distinguished military service, by regular, territorial and reserve members of the New Zealand Defence Force. Until 1995, this type of service was recognised by awards of the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

(Military Division). After the change to a totally New Zealand Honours system in 1996, these Commonwealth awards were not available to be awarded to New Zealand military personnel.

Eligibility

All members 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 ...

, or uniformed members of allied forces operating with or alongside units of the New Zealand military are eligible for the decoration. It may be awarded for the outstanding performance of military duties in either warlike or non-warlike operations, or for individual efforts toward peacetime and humanitarian service which brings great credit to the New Zealand Defence Force. The acts must contribute significantly, through exceptional devotion to duty, dedication, judgement or application of skills to the conduct of an operational deployment, the conduct of military training or a military operation or operations, or the management and implementation of a project or activity with significant implications for the current or future capability of the New Zealand Defence Force. The Distinguished Service Decoration also may be awarded for a single accomplishment or instance of extraordinary performance of duty, or can be awarded for cumulative efforts over a long period of time.

Appearance

The decoration, made of

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. '' Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, i ...

, is a representation of a kotiate, a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

eight bladed war club. In the centre of the kotiate is

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 cent ...

. The blades alternate between frosted and polished silver. The reverse is inscribed “FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE” and its

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

equivalent “MO NGA TE MAHI KAHURANGI”. The ribbon is dark blue with a center stripe of red, two narrow yellow stripes separate the red stripe from the blue.

Recipients

References

{{Orders, decorations, and medals of New Zealand Military awards and decorations of New Zealand