The New Zealand Police Meritorious Service Medal is a police award of the New Zealand Police. Established by Royal Warrant 15 October 2013, the medal may be awarded to recognize meritorious exceptional performance, commitment, or innovation.

Criteria

The New Zealand Police Meritorious Service Medal may be awarded by the Police Commissioner to any police employee. Employees may be recognized for courage, dedication and professionalism in their daily duties. Recipients are expected to be high performers whose service is innovative or inspirational. Dedication to community service or exercising sound professional judgment in difficult situations were also applicable situations that may merit award.

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'' surrounding the insignia of the New Zealand Police. 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 a central stripe of dark blue edged in yellow with yellow edge stripes. 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. 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 five-pointed star will be worn to indicate subsequent awards.

References

{{NZ Long & Meritorious Service Medals Civil awards and decorations of New Zealand New Zealand Police Law enforcement awards and honors New Zealand Meritorious & Long Service Awards 2013 establishments in New Zealand Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth