The King's Service Medal (created as the Queen's Service Medal in 1975 and renamed in 2024) is a medal awarded by the government of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to the

Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the ...

. The QSM replaced the Imperial Service Medal as an award of New Zealand. On 3 May 2024, the Queen's Service Medal was renamed to the King's Service Medal by Royal Warrant. Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal from 1975 until May 2024 will continue to use the 'QSM' postnominal with recipients of the King's Service Medal from June 2024 using the postnominal 'KSM'.

Appearance

1975–2007

The original medal was made of sterling silver, in diameter. The

obverse The obverse and reverse are 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, ''obverse'' ...

bears the same effigy of The Queen as the badge of the Queen's Service Order. Surrounding the effigy are the Royal styles and titles "ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA F.D.". The reverse depicts the New Zealand Coat of Arms surrounded by the inscription "The Queen's Service Medal" and the name of the sub-division either "for Community Service" or "for Public Services". The initials and name of the recipient is engraved on the rim of the Medal. The medals were made by the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

2007–2023

The medal is also made of sterling silver, and is 36 mm in diameter. The obverse bears the

Ian Rank-Broadley Ian Rank-Broadley Royal British Society of Sculptors, FRBS (born 1952) is a British sculpture, sculptor who has produced many acclaimed works, among which are several designs for British coinage and the Statue of Diana, Princess of Wales, memor ...

designed effigy of The Queen. The effigy is surrounded by the Royal styles and titles "ELIZABETH II QUEEN OF NEW ZEALAND". The reverse bears the New Zealand Coat of Arms surrounded by the inscription "The Queen's Service Medal" above and "for service – MO NGA MAHI NUI" below. The new Badge and Medal are made by Thomas Fattorini Limited, of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Since 2024

The obverse of the King's Service Medal depicts

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

's portrait and his title 'CHARLES III KING OF NEW ZEALAND'. The reverse of the King's Service Medal is the same as the Q.S.M., but references to 'Queen's' has been replaced with 'King's'.

Ribbon

Both versions of the medal are suspended from a ribbon 36 mm wide. The edges are a narrow red ochre (kokowhai) stripe. The centre has alternating stripes of red ochre, white and black in a descending step pattern from left to right. The design is inspired by the

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 ...

poutama pattern used in

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenu ...

wall panels. It is usually interpreted as the "stairway to heaven", but in this case it refers to "steps of service".

References

External links

Statutes of the Queen's Service Order
{{Orders, decorations, and medals of New Zealand Civil awards and decorations of New Zealand * * Volunteering awards 1975 establishments in New Zealand Awards established in 1975