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Profiles

  • Tōgō Heihachirō (1848 - 1934)
    Tōgō Heihachirō (東郷 平八郎, 27 January 1848 – 30 May 1934), served as a gensui or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and became one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. As Commander-in-Chie...
  • David Hockney
    David Hockney OM CH RA (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is consi...
  • Henry Spencer Moore (photo: Allan warren)
    Henry Spencer Moore (1898 - 1986)
    Henry Spencer Moore= From Wikipedia: Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are l...
  • Sir Paul Nurse
    Sir Paul Maxime Nurse FRS FREng (born 25 January 1949), is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded t...
  • Venki Ramakrishnan
    Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan (Tamil: வெங்கட்ராமன் ராமகிருஷ்ணன்) is an Indian-born American structural biologist, who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath...

The Order of Merit

The Order of Merit is a special honour awarded to individuals of great achievement in the fields of the arts, learning, literature and science.

The Order was founded by King Edward VII at the time of his coronation in 1902, to be ‘given to such persons, subjects of Our Crown, as may have rendered exceptionally meritorious services in Our Crown Services or towards the advancement of the Arts, Learning, Literature, and Science or such other exceptional service as We are fit to recognise’.

The Order of Merit is in the sole gift of the Sovereign and is restricted to 24 members as well as additional foreign recipients.

Past British holders of the Order have included [year of appointment] [member no.]

There are very few foreign recipients, although those given the Order have included:

There is also a military division included in the 24. Although the last member of this was Lord Mountbatten, the military division has never been abolished.

The badge is an eight-pointed cross of red and blue enamel surmounted by the imperial crown; in the centre, upon blue enamel and surrounded by a laurel wreath, are the words in gold lettering 'For Merit'.

Download an image of the badge: © Buckingham Palace.

The insignia for the military division (when used) is differentiated by crossed swords in the centre of the badge.

Between 1907 and 1913 portraits of 24 of the early members of the Order were commissioned, of which 14 were by William Strang. With the outbreak of the First World War this practice fell into abeyance. In 1987 The Queen revived the tradition with the intention that each member should be drawn by a different artist. Since 1987 nearly 60 further portraits of members of the Order of Merit have been added to the Royal Collection. (The only current member of the order not so far to have been drawn for the series is Neil MacGregor, appointed in November 2010.)

View a gallery of images of the latest eight portraits commissioned by Her Majesty

Motto: For merit

Chapel: Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace

Ranks: Member

Post-nominals: OM

Founded: 1902

A list of current members (as of July 2024)

Substantive Members: [year of appointment] [member no.] (birth year)

  1. Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM, RA, HonFREng, (English architect and designer; recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture) - [1997] [169] (b. 1935)
  2. Sir Roger Penrose OM, FRS, HonFInstP, Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 (Mathematical physicist) - [2000] [175] (b. 1932)
  3. Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL, HonFBA (Playwright) - [2000] [176] (b. 1937)
  4. Sir David Attenborough OM, GCMG, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FSA, FRSA, FLS, FZS, FRSGS, FRSB, HonFLI (Broadcaster and naturalist) - [2005] [180] (b. 1926)
  5. The Lord Eames OM (Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh) - [2007] [183] (b. 1937)
  6. Sir Timothy "Tim" Berners-Lee OM, KBE, FRS, FREng, FRSA, FBCS (Inventor of the World Wide Web, Founder of the World Wide Web Foundation and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium) - [2007] [184] (b. 1955)
  7. The Lord Rees of Ludlow OM, PRS, FREng, FMedSci, FRAS, HonFInstP (Astronomer Royal and 60th President of the Royal Society 2005-2010) - [2007] [185] (b. 1932)
  8. Jean Chrétien OM, CC, KC, PC (Prime Minister of Canada) - [2009] [186] (b. 1934)
  9. Neil MacGregor OM, AO, FSA (Art historian and Director of the British Museum) - [2010] [187] (b. 1946)
  10. David Hockney OM CH RA (English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer; considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries) - [2012] [188] (b. 1937)
  11. John Howard OM, AC (Prime Minister of Australia) - [2012] [189] (b.1937)
  12. Sir Simon Rattle OM, CBE (Conductor) - [2014] [190] (b. 1955)
  13. Sir Magdi Yacoub OM, FRS (Cardiothoracic surgeon) - [2014] [192] (b. 1936)
  14. The Lord Darzi of Denham OM, KBE, PC, FRS, FMedSci, FRCSI, FRCS, FRCSE, FRCPGlas, FACS, FRCP, FREng (Surgeon) - [2016] [193] (b. 1960)
  15. Dame Ann Dowling OM, DBE, FRS, FREng (Mechanical engineer) - [2016] [194] (b. 1952)
  16. Sir James Dyson OM, CBE, RDI, FRS, FREng, FCSD, FIEE (Inventor and industrial designer) - [2016] [195] (b.1947)
  17. Dame Elizabeth Anionwu OM, DBE, FRCN (Nurse) - [2022] [196] (b. 1947)
  18. The Baroness Benjamin OM, DBE, DL (Broadcaster) - [2022] [197] (b. 1950)
  19. Margaret MacMillan OM, CC, CH, FRSL, FRSC, FBA, FRCGS (Historian) - [2022] [198] (b. 1944)
  20. Sir David Adjaye OM, OBE, RA (Architect) - [2022] [199] (b. 1967)
  21. Sir Paul Nurse OM, CH, PRS, FMedSci, HonFREng, HonFBA, MAE, Nobel Prize on Physiology or Medicine 2001 (Geneticist, 61st President of the Royal Society 2010–2015) ) - [2022] [200] (b.1949)
  22. Sir Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan OM. PRS, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 (Structural biologist & the 62nd President of the Royal Society 2015 - 2020) - [2022] [201] (b. 1952)