New Zealand royal honours system
The New Zealand Royal Honours system, a system of orders, decorations and medals, recognises achievements of, or service by, New Zealanders or others in connection with New Zealand. Until 1975 New Zealand used the British honours system. Since then the country has introduced a number of uniquely New Zealand honours, and only the dynastic British honours continue in active use in New Zealand, with the exception of the Order of the Companions of Honour.
The Queen of New Zealand awards honours on ministerial advice. However, certain awards remain in the exclusive gift of the Queen.
The Honours Unit of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet administers the New Zealand honours system.
History
Since the beginning of settlement in the mid nineteenth century, British honours were awarded in New Zealand. In 1848, Governor George Grey received the first honour granted to a New Zealand resident, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. For more than a hundred years the British honours system was used for New Zealand. In appropriate cases, this included peerages and baronetcies.Bernard Freyberg, although not born in New Zealand and resident outside New Zealand for a considerable portion of his life, had significant connections with New Zealand, and was ennobled while serving as Governor-General of New Zealand in 1951. The current bearer of the title, Valerian Freyberg, 3rd Baron Freyberg, is based in the United Kingdom and is one of the 92 hereditary peers elected to sit in the House of Lords.
Arthur Porritt, a New Zealand-born physician, surgeon, statesman and athlete, became a baronet in 1963 and was appointed Governor-General of New Zealand in 1967, serving until 1972. He moved to live in England upon the expiry of his term as Governor-General, and was later ennobled in 1973. Porritt was resident in England at the time he was made a baronet and at the time he received his peerage. His son, Jonathon Porritt, is resident in England and is entitled to register his claim to his father's baronetcy. He has so far declined to do so, however.
In 1975, after a review of the system, two uniquely New Zealand honours were integrated into it: the Queen's Service Order, and its affiliated Medal. In 1987, the Order of New Zealand was instituted as the supreme New Zealand honour.
In 1996, Robin Cooke, a New Zealand judge, was awarded a life peerage. Following his ennoblement until his retirement at the age of 75, Lord Cooke sat in the British House of Lords as a Law Lord, and ex officio also in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which at that time was the highest authority in the New Zealand judicial system. Lord Cooke is the only Commonwealth judge from outside Britain to have attained this distinction. The discontinuance of appeals to the Privy Council from New Zealand in 2003 makes it unlikely that a similar honour will be granted in future on the strength of judicial services rendered in New Zealand.
A further review of the New Zealand Honours system in 1996 and 1997 resulted in the termination of awards of almost all British honours and the creation of a new five-level New Zealand Order of Merit to replace them. In 2000, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced that no further awards of knighthoods and damehoods would be made in the New Zealand Honours system.
In March 2009, Prime Minister John Key announced the restoration of knighthoods and damehoods to the New Zealand Honours system, with past recipients of the two highest grades of the New Zealand Order of Merit to be eligible to receive titles.
Orders and other honours
| Complete name | Ranks / Letters | Ribbon | Established | Founder | Motto | Awarded to/for | Associated awards | Refs |
| The Most Noble Order of the Garter | KG/LG | 23 April 1348 | Edward III | Honi soit qui mal y pense | Relating to England and Wales | - | ||
| The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle | KT/LT | 29 May 1687 | James VII and II | Nemo me impune lacessit | Relating to Scotland | - | ||
| The Royal Victorian Order | GCVO, KCVO/DCVO, CVO, LVO, MVO | 21 April 1896 | Victoria | Victoria | Services to the Crown | The Royal Victorian Medal, The Royal Victorian Chain | ||
| The Order of Merit | OM | 23 June 1902 | Edward VII | For merit | Military, science, art, literature, culture | - | ||
| Order of New Zealand | ONZ | 6 February 1987 | Elizabeth II | - | Outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity | - | ||
| New Zealand Order of Merit | GNZM, KNZM/DNZM, CNZM, ONZM, MNZM | 30 May 1996 | Elizabeth II | - | Meritorious service to the Crown and the nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions, or other merits | - | ||
| Queen's Service Order | QSO | 13 March 1975 | Elizabeth II | For service — Mō nga mahi nui | For valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or appointed office | Queen's Service Medal | ||
| Queen's Service Medal | QSM | 13 March 1975 | Elizabeth II | For service — Mō nga mahi nui | Voluntary service to the community or services to the Crown in the public sector, in elected or appointed office. | New Zealand Antarctic Medal | ||
| New Zealand Antarctic Medal | NZAM | 1 September 2006 | Elizabeth II | - | For outstanding contribution to exploration, scientific research, conservation, environmental protection, or knowledge of the Antarctic region; or in support of New Zealand’s objectives or operations, or both, in the Antarctic region. | - | ||
| New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration | DSD | 14 May 2007 | Elizabeth II | - | Distinguished military service, by regular, territorial and reserve members of the New Zealand Defence Force | - | ||
| New Zealand Memorial Cross | — | 12 September 1947 | George VI | - | Next of kin of New Zealand service personnel who, since September 1939, have been killed on active service or later die of wounds | - |
- Orders. The Order of the Garter is the country's highest civilian honour, then the Order of the Thistle, then the Order of Merit, then the Order of New Zealand, then the New Zealand Order of Merit, then the Royal Victorian Order. The Queen's Service Order has similar precedence to the fourth level of the NZ Order of Merit. The Queen's Service Medal takes precedence after the NZ Order of Merit. Prior to the reorganisation of the New Zealand honours system in 1996, New Zealanders received various British Imperial honours, namely peerages and baronetcies of the United Kingdom, the Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Order of the British Empire, and Knight Bachelor.
- Other decorations and medals. These usually do not carry titles, but nonetheless entitle the holder to place post nominals after his or her name. The New Zealand Antarctic Medal and the Distinguished Service Decoration are analogues to the Polar Medal and the Medal of the Order of the British Empire.
- The Most Venerable Order of St John of Jerusalem. Although it is an independent order of chivalry, it is officially sanctioned by virtue of the fact that the Queen is the Sovereign of the Order. The Governor-General of New Zealand is the Prior in New Zealand. 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.
- Honours in the exclusive gift of the Queen such as the Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Royal Victorian Order and Order of Merit are not conferred on ministerial advice and continue to be part of the New Zealand Royal Honours system.