The Legion of Merit was a Rhodesian order of merit awarded to both civilian and military recipients for service to Rhodesia.

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (March 2024)

Quick Facts Order of the Legion of Merit, Type ...

Order of the Legion of Merit
Legion Of Merit (civil division) Legion Of Merit (military division)
Type	order
Awarded for	outstanding service to Rhodesia
Presented by	Rhodesia  Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
Eligibility	civilians and military personnel
Post-nominals	Dependent on grade
Status	defunct
Established	4 November 1970
First awarded	1970
Last awarded	April 1981
Ribbon bar of the civil order Ribbon bar of the military order
Precedence
Next (higher)	Conspicuous Gallantry Decoration
Next (lower)	Independence Decoration

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The award was instituted in 1970 by Presidential Warrant, the first awards being made the same year. The last awards were made in June 1980. The civil class was suspended from a green and gold ribbon. The military class differed by featuring a red stripe on the green and gold ribbon.

There were five classes of the order:

• Grand Commander (GCLM)
• Grand Officer (GLM)
• Commander (CLM)
• Officer (OLM)
• Member (MLM)

The incumbent President of Rhodesia served as Grand Master of the Legion of Merit. Recipients of the order were entitled to the post-nominal letters indicated above. It was retained by the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia as well, the President of that state also serving as Grand Master.

The Legion of Merit was superseded in April 1981^[1] by the Zimbabwe Order of Merit, which is awarded to civilians as well as military personnel for eminent achievement and services to Zimbabwe.

While the higher grades of the order were used almost exclusively by Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front government to reward political service, recipients of the lower and middle grades included a number of notable military leaders, community leaders and civil servants.

Commanders

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2017)

There were 32 CLMs (Civil Division) and 4 CLMs (Military Division).

More information Recipient, Office ...

Recipient	Office	Note(s)
Civil Division
Janet Smith	-	Wife of Prime Minister Ian Smith
Military Division
Col. Ronald Reid-Daly	Commanding officer of the Selous Scouts

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