Pro Merito Medal (1967)

Pro Merito Medal (1967)
Awarded by the State President
Country	South Africa
Type	Military decoration for merit
Eligibility	Other ranks
Awarded for	Outstanding devotion to duty
Status	Discontinued in 1975
Post-nominals	PMM
Statistics
Established	1967
First awarded	1968
Last awarded	1975
Total awarded	374
SADF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear
Next (higher)	SADF precedence: Southern Cross Medal (1952) SANDF precedence: Southern Cross Medal (1952)
Next (lower)	SADF succession: Southern Cross Medal (1975) SANDF succession: Distinguished Service Medal, Silver
1967-1968 and 1968-1975 ribbon bars

The Pro Merito Medal of 1967, post-nominal letters PMM, is a military decoration which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1967. It was awarded to other ranks of the South African Defence Force for outstanding devotion to duty and was the non-commissioned officers' version of the Southern Cross Medal of 1952 (SM), which had earlier been available to all ranks.

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 Medal of 1967, post-nominal letters PMM, was instituted by the State President on 6 June 1967, as an other ranks' version of the Southern Cross Medal of 1952 (SM), the award of which became restricted to officers with effect from that date.

The medal could be awarded to other ranks of the South African Defence Force for outstanding devotion to duty. Prior to the institution of the Pro Merito Medal, other ranks had been eligible for the award of the Southern Cross Medal.

The position of the Pro Merito Medal of 1967 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 when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted in April 1996 for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again when a new series of military orders, decorations and medals was instituted in South Africa on 27 April 2003. The position of the Pro Merito Medal of 1967 remained unchanged, as it was on 27 April 1994, upon the latter two occasions

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