Order for Meritorious Service
| Order for Meritorious Service | |
|---|---|
Order for Meritorious Service, Gold
|
|
| Awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President | |
| Country |
  South Africa
|
| Type | Civil National Order |
| Eligibility | South African citizens |
| Awarded for | Exceptional public service |
| Status | Discontinued in 2003 |
| Post-nominals | Gold - OMSG Silver - OMSS |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 1986 |
| Last awarded | 2002 |
| Pre-1994 & post-2002 orders of wear | |
| Next (higher) |
Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, Pre-1994 precedence:
Post-2002 precedence:
Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, Pre-1994 precedence:
Post-2002 precedence:
|
| Next (lower) |
Order for Meritorious Service, Gold, Pre-1994 succession:
Post-2002 succession:
Order for Meritorious Service, Silver, Pre-1994 succession:
Post-2002 succession:
|
_-_ribbon_bar.gif){kind=small}  1986 and 1996 ribbon bars |
|
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The Order for Meritorious Service is a South African National Order that consisted of two classes, in gold and silver, and was awarded to deserving South African citizens. The order was discontinued on 2 December 2002.
The Order for Meritorious Service was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1986, by Warrant published in Government Gazette no. 10493 dated 24 October 1986. It superseded the earlier Decoration for Meritorious Services. The order could be awarded in two classes:
The Order was awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President, to South Africans who had rendered exceptional public service. Recipients included cabinet ministers, judges, captains of commerce and industry, church leaders, academics, sports stars and prominent figures in the arts and sciences.
The positions of the two classes of the Order for Meritorious Service in the official order of precedence were revised three times after 1986 to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first with the integration process of 1994, again when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory para-military forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again with the institution of new sets of awards in 2002 and 2003.
The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Gold in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.
The position of the Order for Meritorious Service, Silver in the South African order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, when new awards were instituted in 1996, 2002 and 2003.
Both classes share the same ribbon and are worn around the neck.
The badge of the Order is a white-enamelled gold or silver gable cross that displays the national arms on a shield in the centre of a smaller gold or silver cross paty.
The reverse has the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms.
The suspender is in the form of the crest of the pre-1994 South African Coat of Arms, a lion holding four staves to represent the four provinces of the Union of South Africa, above an outline of an inverted gable.
The breast star consists of the badge of the order superimposed on a four-pointed multi-rayed diagonal star.
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Wikipedia