Pro Merito Decoration
| Pro Merito Decoration | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President | |
| Country |
  South Africa
|
| Type | Military decoration for merit |
| Eligibility | Other ranks |
| Awarded for | Outstanding service of the highest order and utmost devotion to duty |
| Status | Discontinued in 2003 |
| Post-nominals | PMD |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 1975 |
| First awarded | 1976 |
| SADF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear | |
| Next (higher) |
SADF precedence:
SANDF precedence:
|
| Next (lower) |
SADF succession:
SANDF succession:
|
 Ribbon bar |
|
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The Pro Merito Decoration, post-nominal letters PMD, is a military decoration for merit which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa on 1 July 1975. It was awarded to other ranks of the South African Defence Force for outstanding service of the highest order and utmost devotion to duty.
The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The Pro Merito Decoration, post-nominal letters PMD, was instituted by the State President on 1 July 1975.
The decoration could be awarded to other ranks of the South African Defence Force for outstanding service of the highest order and utmost devotion to duty. A Bar was instituted in 1993, to be awarded in recognition of further similar displays of outstanding service of the highest order and utmost devotion to duty. The equivalent award for officers was the Southern Cross Decoration (SD).
Although not prescribed, the practice was generally that the recipient must already have received the Pro Merito Medal (PMM).
The position of the Pro Merito Decoration in the official order of precedence was revised three times after 1975 to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first upon the integration into the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, again in April 1996, when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and finally upon the institution of a new set of awards on 27 April 2003.
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