Order of St Michael and St George


The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later King George IV, while he was acting as regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour of two military saints, St Michael and St George.
The Order of St Michael and St George was originally awarded to those holding commands or high position in the Mediterranean territories acquired in the Napoleonic Wars, and was subsequently extended to holders of similar office or position in other territories of the British Empire. It is at present awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country, and can also be conferred for important or loyal service in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs.

Description

The Order includes three classes, in descending order of seniority and rank:
by Mattia Preti
It is used to honour individuals who have rendered important services in relation to Commonwealth or foreign nations. People are appointed to the Order rather than awarded it. British Ambassadors to foreign nations are regularly appointed as KCMGs or CMGs. For example, the former British Ambassador to the United States, Sir David Manning, was appointed a CMG when he worked for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and then after his appointment as British Ambassador to the US, he was promoted to a Knight Commander. It is the traditional award for members of the FCO.
The Order's motto is Auspicium melioris ævi''. Its patron saints, as the name suggests, are St. Michael the Archangel, and St. George, patron saint of England. One of its primary symbols is that of St Michael trampling over and subduing Satan in battle.
The Order is the sixth-most senior in the British honours system, after The Most Noble Order of the Garter, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, and The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India. The third of the aforementioned Orders—which relates to Ireland, no longer fully a part of the United Kingdom—still exists but is in disuse; no appointments have been made to it since 1936. The last of the Orders on the list, related to India, has also been in disuse since that country's independence in 1947.

History

The Prince Regent founded the Order to commemorate the British amical protectorate over the Ionian Islands, which had come under British control in 1814 and had been granted their own constitution as the United States of the Ionian Islands in 1817. It was intended to reward "natives of the Ionian Islands and of the island of Malta and its dependencies, and for such other subjects of His Majesty as may hold high and confidential situations in the Mediterranean".
In 1864, however, the protectorate ended and the Ionian Islands became part of Greece. A revision of the basis of the Order in 1868, saw membership granted to those who "hold high and confidential offices within Her Majesty's colonial possessions, and in reward for services rendered to the Crown in relation to the foreign affairs of the Empire". Accordingly, numerous Governors-General and Governors feature as recipients of awards in the order.
In 1965 the order was opened to women, with Evelyn Bark becoming the first female CMG in 1967.

Composition

The British Sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order. The next-most senior member is the Grand Master. The office was formerly filled by the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands; now, however, Grand Masters are chosen by the Sovereign. Grand Masters include:
The Order originally included 15 Knights Grand Cross, 20 Knights Commanders, and 25 Companions but has since been expanded and the current limits on membership are 125, 375, and 1,750 respectively. Members of the Royal Family who are appointed to the Order do not count towards the limit, nor do foreign members appointed as "honorary members".

Officers

The Order has six officers. The Order's King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, like many other heraldic officers. The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman or Lady Usher of the Blue Rod. Blue Rod does not, unlike the usher of the Order of the Garter, perform any duties related to the House of Lords.
Members of the Order wear elaborate regalia on important occasions, which vary by rank:
At less important occasions, simpler insignia are used:
On certain "collar days" designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or morning wear. When collars are worn, the badge is suspended from the collar. All collars which have been awarded since 1948 must be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. The other insignia may be retained.

Chapel

The original home of the Order was the Palace of St. Michael and St. George in Corfu, the residence of the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands and the seat of the Ionian Senate. Since 1906, the Order's chapel has been in St Paul's Cathedral in London. Religious services for the whole Order are held quadrennially; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services.
The Sovereign and the Knights and Dames Grand Cross are allotted stalls in the choir of the chapel, above which their heraldic devices are displayed. Perched on the pinnacle of a knight's stall is his helm, decorated with a mantling and topped by his crest. Under English heraldic law, women other than monarchs do not bear helms or crests; instead, the coronet appropriate to the dame's rank, if there is one, is used. Above the crest or coronet, the stall's occupant's heraldic banner is hung, emblazoned with his or her coat of arms. At a considerably smaller scale, to the back of the stall is affixed a piece of brass displaying its occupant's name, arms and date of admission into the Order. Upon the death of a Knight, the banner, helm, mantling and crest are taken down. The stall plates, however, are not removed; rather, they remain permanently affixed somewhere about the stall, so that the stalls of the chapel are festooned with a colourful record of the Order's Knights and Dames Grand Cross since 1906.
The reredos within the chapel were commissioned from Henry Poole in 1927.

Precedence and privileges

Members of the Order of St Michael are assigned positions in the order of precedence in England and Wales. Wives of male members also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders; relatives of female members, however, are not assigned any special precedence.
Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders prefix "Sir", and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commanders prefix "Dame", to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Furthermore, honorary members and clergymen do not receive the accolade and thus are not entitled to use the prefix "Sir" or "Dame". Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal "GCMG"; Knights Commanders and Dames Commanders use "KCMG" and "DCMG" respectively; Companions use "CMG".
Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to receive heraldic supporters. They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter. Knights and Dames Commanders and Companions may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet.

Popular references

In the satirical British television programme Yes Minister, Jim Hacker MP is told an old joke by his Private Secretary Bernard Woolley about what the various post-nominals stand for. From Season 2, Episode 2 "Doing the Honours":
Both sexes use the same post-nominal initials, except that there is a distinctly female form of Knight Commander of St Michael and St George. This is Dame Commander of St. Michael and St George.
Ian Fleming's spy, James Bond, a commander in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve was fictionally decorated with the CMG in 1953. He was offered the KCMG in The Man with the Golden Gun, but he rejected the offer as he did not wish to become a public figure. Dame Judi Dench's character "M" is "offered" early retirement and a GCMG in Skyfall after a series of events resulting in the loss of a list that named every NATO espionage operative.
Long-time Doctor Who companion Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart wore the ribbon of the order as the highest of his decorations in the series' classic era.

Current Knights and Dames Grand Cross

Officers

NamePost-NominalsKnown forYear
appointed		Notes
Vigdís FinnbogadóttirFormer President of Iceland1982
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of BruneiSultan of Brunei1984
Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al ThaniMember of the royal family of Qatar1985
Gyanendra of NepalFormer King of Nepal1986
Fidel V. RamosFormer President of the Philippines1995
Aleksander KwaśniewskiFormer President of Poland1996
Maumoon Abdul GayoomFormer President of the Maldives1997
Nawaz SharifFormer Prime Minister of Pakistan1997
Hamad bin Khalifa Al ThaniFormer Emir of Qatar1997
Carlos MenemFormer President of Argentina1998
Ernesto ZedilloFormer President of Mexico1998
Alberto FujimoriFormer President of Peru1998
János MartonyiFormer Minister of Foreign Affairs1999
Abdullah II of JordanKing of Jordan1999
Friis Arne PetersenFormer Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark2000
Giuliano AmatoFormer Prime Minister of Italy2000
Lamberto DiniFormer Prime Minister of Italy2000
Umberto VattaniFormer Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs2000
Emil ConstantinescuFormer President of Romania2000
Thabo MbekiFormer President of South Africa2000
Nursultan NazarbayevFormer President of Kazakhstan2000
Ali Abu al-RaghebFormer Prime Minister of Jordan2001
Jorge SampaioFormer President of Portugal2001-
Anson ChanGBM Former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong-
Vicente FoxFormer President of Mexico2002
Xanana Gusmão, GCL, Former Prime Minister of East Timor2003
Hamid KarzaiFormer President of Afghanistan2003
Alfred MoisiuFormer President of Albania2003
Włodzimierz CimoszewiczFormer Prime Minister of Poland2004
Gianfranco FiniFormer Deputy Prime Minister of Italy2005
Mohammed bin Rashid Al MaktoumPrime Minister of the United Arab Emirates2010
Mohammed bin Zayed Al NahyanCrown Prince of Abu Dhabi2010
Sabah Al Khalid Al SabahDeputy Prime Minister of Kuwait2012
Manuel VallsFormer Prime Minister of France2014
Marie Louise Coleiro PrecaFormer President of Malta2015

Honorary Knights/Dames Commander (KCMG/DCMG)

NamePost-NominalsKnown forYear
appointed		Notes
Hamad bin Isa Al KhalifaKing of Bahrain1979
Henry KissingerFormer United States Secretary of State1995
Frederico Cezar de AraujoBrazilian diplomat1997
Gelson FonsecaBrazilian diplomat1997
Affonso Emilio de Alencastro MassotBrazilian diplomat1997
Takekazu KawamuraJapanese diplomat1998
Henrik SchmiegelowGerman diplomat1998
Carl BildtFormer Prime Minister of Sweden1998
József SzájerFormer Chairman of the European Integration Select Committee1999
Jan MarcussenDanish diplomat2000
Carmela Decaro BonellaFormer Deputy Director General and Director of the President of Italy’s Office2000
Luigo Guidobono CavalchiniFormer Private Secretary to the Foreign Minister of Italy2000
Francesco OlivieriFormer Diplomatic Adviser to the Prime Minister of Italy2000
Javier SolanaFormer Secretary General of NATO2000
Richard Armitage,, Former United States Deputy Secretary of State2005
Fazle Hasan AbedFounder and chairman of BRAC2010
Jaap de Hoop SchefferFormer Secretary General of NATO2010
Sadako OgataJapanese academic and diplomat2011
Efthymios MitropoulosFormer Secretary-General of International Maritime Organization2011
Marzuki AlieFormer Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives2012
Irman GusmanFormer Speaker of the Indonesian House of Regional Representatives2012
Marty NatalegawaFormer Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia2012
Sudi SilalahiFormer Secretary of State of Indonesia2012
Abdullah bin Zayed Al NahyanMinister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE2013
Yun Byung-seFormer Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea2013
Jacques RoggeFormer President of the International Olympic Committee2014
Angelina JolieAmerican actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian2014
Laurent FabiusFormer Minister of Foreign Affairs of France2014
Laurent StefaniniFormer Ambassador, Chief of Protocol to President Hollande2014
Grace FuFormer Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore2014
Anders Fogh RasmussenFormer Secretary General of NATO2015
José Antonio Meade KuribreñaFormer Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico2015
Joseph MuscatFormer Prime Minister of Malta2015
Peter PiotBelgian microbiologist2016
George VellaFormer Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta now President of Malta2018
Zeid Raad Al HusseinFormer United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights2019