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The honours system of the United Kingdom is a means of rewarding personal bravery, achievement or service to the country. The system is made up of three types of award: honours, decorations and medals. - Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement and service;
- Medals are used to recognise bravery, long/valuable service and/or good conduct;
- Decorations tend to be used to recognise specific deeds.
The honours system of the United Kingdom is a means of rewarding personal bravery, achievement or service to the country. ...
Brief history
Although the Anglo-Saxon kings are known to have rewarded their loyal subjects with rings and other symbols of favour, it was the Normans who introduced knighthoods as part of their feudal system of government. Later, the first English order of chivalry, the Order of the Garter was created in 1348 by Edward III. Since then the system has evolved and branched out to address the changing need to recognise other forms of service to the United Kingdom. Various orders of knighthood were created (see below) as well as awards for military service, bravery, merit and achievement. The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ...
The Normans (adapted from the name Northmen or Norsemen) were a mixture of the indigenous Gauls of France and the Viking invaders under the leadership of Rollo (Gange Rolf). ...
Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum, itself borrowed from a Germanic root *fehu, a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held under certain obligations by feodati. ...
A garter is one of the Orders most recognisable insignia. ...
Events April 7 - Charles University is founded in Prague. ...
Edward III King of England Edward III (13 November 1312–21 June 1377) was one of the most successful English Kings of medieval times. ...
Modern honours As the head of state the Sovereign remains the “Fount of honour” but the system for identifying and recognising candidates has changed considerably over time. Various orders of knighthood have been created (see below) as well as awards for military service, bravery, merit and achievement which take the form of decorations or medals. The means of selection depends upon the type of award being made. The fount of honour (Latin: fons honorum) refers to a nations head of state, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry to other persons. ...
Most medals are not graded. Each one recognises specific service and as such there are normally set criteria which must be met. These criteria may include a period of time and will often delimit a particular geographic region. Medals are not normally presented by the Sovereign. A full list is printed in the “order of wear” which is published infrequently in the London Gazette. The adjective sovereign is used to refer to a state of sovereignty. ...
The London Gazette is the oldest surviving English newspaper and the oldest continuously-published newspaper in the world, having been first published on 7 November 1665. ...
Honours are split into classes (orders) and graded with different levels being used to distinguish between degrees of achievement or service. There are no criteria to determine these levels: various honours committees meet to discuss the candidates and decide which ones deserve which type of award and at what level. Since their decisions are inevitably subjective the twice-yearly honours lists provoke criticism from those who feel strongly about particular cases. Candidates are identified by public/private bodies and government departments or nominated by members of the public. Those selected by committee are submitted to the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or Defence Secretary (depending upon their background) and then sent to the Sovereign for approval. Certain honours are awarded at her sole discretion. A prime minister may be either: the chief or leading member of the cabinet of the top-level government in a country having a parliamentary system of government; or the official, in countries with a semi-presidential system of government, appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives...
The title of Foreign Secretary has been traditionally used to refer to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. ...
The Secretary of State for Defence is the senior United Kingdom government minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence. ...
A complete list of ~1350 names is published twice a year at the New Year and on the Queen's official birthday in June. The awards are then presented by the Queen or the Prince of Wales at investiture ceremonies. The Queens Birthday or Queens Official Birthday is celebrated as a public holiday in several Commonwealth countries (usually Commonwealth realms). ...
The Badge of the Prince of Wales is derived from the ostrich feathers borne by Edward, the Black Prince. ...
Refusal or forfeiture Honours are sometimes subsequently removed (forfeited) if a recipient is convicted of a criminal offence. A small number of people offered various awards have refused them, usually for personal reasons. (See a partial list of people who have declined a British honour.) The following is a partial list of people who have declined a British honour, such as a knighthood or an Order of the British Empire. ...
Current orders of chivalry The current system is made up of ten orders of chivalry: Each order has different grades and some of them have associated medals. The composition of each order is explained in the related pages. The statutes of each order set down the rules covering matters like the size of the order, post nominal letters and the design and wearing of the insignia. All of the awards in the above orders except the medal of the Imperial Service Order carry post nominal letters. A garter is one of the Orders most recognisable insignia. ...
James VII ordained the modern Order. ...
Military Badge of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. ...
The Order of Merit is a British Order. ...
On the Orders insignia, St Michael is often depicted subduing Satan. ...
Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...
Victoria founded the Royal Victorian Order. ...
The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. ...
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The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British and Commonwealth Order (decoration). ...
Old orders of chivalry Each order was created for a particular reason at a particular time. In some cases the reason has ceased to be valid and the order has fallen into abeyance. The Order of St Patrick is no longer used because of Irish independence. The last surviving knight died in 1974. The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is an order of chivalry associated with Ireland. ...
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Victoria in 1861. ...
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Victoria in 1877. ...
The Imperial Order of the Crown of India is an order in the British honours system. ...
The Royal Guelphic Order was only used briefly as a UK honour. This three class honour was infamous in its time, but ceased to be used in the UK in 1837.
Orders related to the Indian Empire are also defunct. The Order of the Star of India was the senior order, divided into three grades - Knight Grand Commander, Knight Commander and Companion (females were not eligible). The highest rank was conferred upon the Princes and Chiefs of Indian states and upon important British civil servants in India. The junior order, the Order of the Indian Empire, was divided into the same ranks and also excluded women. There was a third order, the Order of the Crown of India, that was open exclusively to ladies. The members, all of the same grade, included the wives and close female relatives of Indian Princes or Chiefs, the Viceroy or Governor-General, the Governors of Bombay, Madras and Bengal, the Principal Secretary of State for India and the Commander-in-Chief in India. Appointments to all of these orders ceased upon Indian independence in 1947. The British Raj is an informal term for the period of British rule of most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (previously known as Ceylon). ...
The Imperial Order of the Crown of India is an order in the British honours system. ...
Reforms of the system have sometimes made other changes. For example the medal of the Order of the British Empire ceased to be awarded in the UK in 1993, as was the companion level award of the Imperial Service Order (although its medal is still used).
Other honours and appointments - Hereditary peerage - No longer attached to a seat in the House of Lords, and now normally only given to members of the Royal family. Last award to a non-royal was in 1984, to former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. There are five ranks of hereditary peerage: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.
- Life peerage - All life peers hold the rank of baron, and automatically have the right to sit in the House of Lords. These titles exist only during their own lifetime and are not passed to their heirs. Some life peerages are created not as an honour, but to enable the holder to sit in the House of Lords, either as a legislator or as a judge. Introduced under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 and Life Peerages Act 1958.
- Baronetcy - The Baronetcy is an hereditary honour, carrying the title Sir. Baronetcies are not peerages, but are usually considered a species of knighthood.
- Knighthood - Descended from mediaeval chivalry, knights exist within the orders of chivalry and within the class known as Knights Bachelor (usual recipients include High Court judges). Knighthood carries the title Sir. The female equivalent Dame only exists within the orders of chivalry.
- Other orders, decorations and medals which do not carry titles, but entitle the holder to place post nominals after his or her name. There are also a small number of Royal Family Orders.
- The Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem (founded 1888). The members of this semi-official order can wear the Order's insignia, but do not receive any titles of Knighthood or use any post-nominal letters.
The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility which exists in the United Kingdom and is one part of the British honours system. ...
This article is about the British House of Lords. ...
A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. ...
The Right Honourable Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894–29 December 1986), nicknamed Supermac and Mac the Knife, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ...
The term duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Portugal, Spain and France (in Italy...
A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in Europe, China, and Japan. ...
An Earl as a member of the British peerage ranks below a Marquess and above a Viscount. ...
A viscount is a member of the European nobility, especially of France, and of the British peerage, where a viscount ranks above a baron, below an earl (a count in France), and corresponds in Britain to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve. ...
Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ...
Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ...
This article is about the British House of Lords. ...
A baronet (traditional abbreviation Bart, modern abbreviation Bt) is the holder of a species of knighthood known as a baronetcy. ...
A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ...
The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
See also order of chivalry Woman under the Safeguard of Knighthood, allegorical Scene. ...
The dignity of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. ...
Her Majestys High Court of Justice (known more simply as the High Court) is, together with the Crown Court and the Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in England and Wales: see Courts of England and Wales. ...
This article concerns British and Commonwealth orders and decorations awarded by the British Sovereign. ...
Post-nominal letters are letters placed after the name of an individual to indicate that that individual holds a position, office, or honour. ...
This page deals with the order after its revival in the 19th century. ...
Honorary awards Citizens of countries which do not recognise the Queen as head of state sometimes have honours conferred upon them, in which case the awards are "honorary" - the holders are entitled to place initials behind their name but not style themselves "Sir ...". Examples of foreigners with honorary knighthoods are Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, Terry Wogan and Rudolph Giuliani, while Arsène Wenger and Gérard Houllier are honorary OBEs. Recipients of honorary awards who later become subjects of Her Majesty may apply to convert their awards to substantive awards. An example of this is Yehudi Menuhin, the American-born violinist and conductor, who was granted an honorary knighthood while still an American citizen, and converted it to a substantive award after he assumed British citizenship. He was only then entitled to be known as Sir Yehudi Menuhin. He later accepted a life peerage as Lord Menuhin. Tony O'Reilly, who holds both British and Irish citizenship, uses the style "Sir", but has also gained approval from the Irish Government to accept the award as is necessary under the Irish Constitution. Though a term originally coined for Republican presidents, a head of state or chief of state is now universally known as the chief public representative of a nation-state, federation or commonwealth, whose role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions...
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III, KBE (born October 28, 1955), commonly known as Bill Gates, is an American businessman and a microcomputer pioneer. ...
Robert Frederick Xenon Bob Geldof, KBE (born October 5, 1951 in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist. ...
Michael Terence Terry Wogan, KBE (born 3 August 1938) is a popular radio and television broadcaster on the BBC in the United Kingdom. ...
Rudolph William Louis Rudy Giuliani III, KBE (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001. ...
Arsène Wenger Arsène Wenger, (b. ...
Gérard Houllier Gérard Houllier (born September 3, 1947 at Therouanne, northern France) is a football coach and manager, currently the manager of the French champion side Olympique Lyonnais. ...
Fritz Kreisler (sitting) with Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Lord Menuhin of Stoke dAbernon , OM, KBE (April 22, 1916. ...
Sir Anthony Joseph Francis OReilly (born 7 May 1936) is an Irish businessman and one of the richest men in Ireland. ...
Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ...
The Government (Irish: Rialtas) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. ...
The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. ...
There is no law in the UK preventing foreigners from holding a peerage, though only Commonwealth and Irish citizens can sit in the House of Lords. However, some other states such as the United States have laws restricting the acceptances of awards by foreign powers; and in Canada, where the Canadian House of Commons has opposed the granting of titular honours with its Nickle Resolution, the prime minister Jean Chrétien was able to advise the Queen not to grant Conrad Black a titular honour while he remained a Canadian citizen. The House of Commons (French: Chambre des communes) is a component of the Parliament of Canada, which also includes the Sovereign (represented by the Governor General) and the Senate. ...
The Nickle Resolution, adopted by the Canadian House of Commons on 22 May 1919, marked the earliest attempt in Canada to establish an official Canadian government policy forbidding the British, and, later, Canadian, Sovereign from granting knighthoods, baronetcies, and peerages to Canadians, and set the precedent for later policies prohibiting...
The Right Honourable Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, PC , LL.D (born January 11, 1934) was the twentieth Prime Minister of Canada, serving from November 4, 1993, to December 12, 2003. ...
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, PC (born August 25, 1944 in Montreal, Quebec), is a Canadian-born British biographer, financier and newspaper magnate. ...
Precedence Knights and Ladies of the Garter, Thistle and St Patrick precede recipients of other orders regardless of grade. Amongst the remaining orders, individuals of a higher rank precede those of a lower rank. For instance, a Knight Grand Cross always precedes a Knight Commander. For those of equal rank, members of the higher-ranked Order take precedence. Within the same Order, precedence is accorded to that individual who received the honour earlier. Knights Bachelor come after Knights of all of the other orders, but before those with the rank of Commander or lower. The Orders of Merit (founded 1902), Companions of Honour (1917), St John (1888) and the Crown of India (1878) accord no special precedence.
Wives of Knights of a certain rank will come directly after all Dames of that rank. For instance, the wife of the most senior Knight Grand Cross of the Bath ranks directly below the most junior Dame Grand Cross of the British Empire.
Style For peers, see Forms of Address in the United Kingdom. Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below. ...
For baronets, the style Sir John Smith, Bt. is used. Their wives are styled simply Lady Smith. The rare baronetess is styled Dame Jane Smith, Btss.
For knights, the style Sir John Smith, [ postnominals ] is used, attaching the proper postnominal letters depending on rank and order (for knights bachelor, no postnominal letters are used). Their wives are styled Lady Smith, with no postnominal letters. A dame is styled Dame Jane Smith, [postnominals]. Post-nominal letters are letters placed after the name of an individual to indicate that that individual holds a position, office, or honour. ...
Recipients of orders, decorations and medals receive no styling of Sir or Dame, but they may attach the according postnominal letters to their name, e.g. John Smith, VC This article concerns British and Commonwealth orders and decorations awarded by the British Sovereign. ...
Knights and Dames of the Order of St. John do not receive any special styling.
Reform Reforms of the system occur from time to time. In the last century notable changes to the system have included a Royal Commission in 1925 following the scandal in which Prime Minister Lloyd George was found to be selling honours, and a review in 1993 when Prime Minister John Major created the public nominations system.
In July 2004, the Public Administration Committee (PASC) of the House of Commons and, concurrently, Sir Hayden Phillips, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Constitutional Affairs, both concluded reviews of the system. The PASC recommended some radical changes; Sir Hayden concentrated on issues of procedure and transparency. In February 2005 the Government responded to both reviews by issuing a Command Paper detailing which of the proposed changes it had accepted. These include diversifying and opening up the system of honours selection committees for the Prime Minister's list and also the introduction of a miniature badge. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: July 2004 in sports Deaths in July • 31 David B. Haight • 29 Francis Crick • 29 Nafisa Joseph • 23 Joe Cahill • 23 Mehmood • 23 Illinois Jacquet • 23 Carlos Paredes • 22 Sacha Distel • 21 Jerry Goldsmith • 21...
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...
2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Ongoing events • Iraqi legislative election • Bill C-38 (Canada gay marriage) • Tsunami relief Upcoming events • March 11: Red Nose Day 2005 in the UK. Deaths in February • 26 – Jef Raskin • 25 – Hugh Nibley • 25 – Peter Benenson • 21...
See also This article concerns British and Commonwealth orders and decorations awarded by the British Sovereign. ...
State decorations are orders, medals and other decorations granted by a sovereign state. ...
Shortcut: UK topics This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ...
This is an incomplete list of people who have been created Honorary Knights (or Dames) by the British crown. ...
The modern Hong Kong honours system was created by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government after the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. ...
Order of Australia Companion in the Order of Australia (AC) Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) Member in the Order of Australia (AM) Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) Military Gallantry Decorations Victoria Cross (VC) Star of Gallantry (SG) Medal for Gallantry (MG) Commendation for Gallantry Australian Bravery...
External links - Official government explanation
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