Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service

The Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service is a state award within the British honours system. The medal is awarded to no more than 20 recipients annually who are announced on Merchant Navy Day, 3 September. A 'Merchant Navy Medal' with the same criteria was awarded by the Merchant Navy Welfare Board from 2005, before being superseded by the state award in 2015.[2]

Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service
Obverse and reverse of the medal
TypeService medal
Awarded forMeritorious service
DescriptionSilver, 36mm in diameter
Presented bythe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
EligibilityMembers of the Merchant Navy
Post-nominalsMNM
StatusCurrently awarded
Established2015
First awarded2016
Ribbon bar
Order of Wear
Next (higher)Jersey Honorary Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal[1]
Next (lower)Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa[1]

Criteria

The medal may be awarded to those individuals who are serving, or have served, in the Merchant Navy or the fishing fleets of the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. Recipients must have shown particularly valuable devotion to duty and exemplary service so as to serve as an outstanding example to others. Recipients will typically have given 20 years of good conduct and exemplary service, although awards have also been made for brave conduct.[3] Annually, no more than 20 medals are awarded.[4] Recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters of MNM.

Appearance

The medal is 1.4 inches (36 mm) in diameter and struck in silver. The obverse bears the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty The Queen. The reverse depicts the badge of the Merchant Navy: the letters MN surrounded by a rope joined at the base by a reef knot, a naval crown surmounts the rope, with the inscription 'FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE'.[5] The medal hangs from a ring suspension, with the 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide ribbon made up of equal stripes of green at the edges, white in the centre, with red bordering the white stripe which represent marine navigational lights. The name of the recipient is impressed on the rim of the Medal.[6]

The previous Merchant Navy Medal displayed a portrait of Lord Nelson on the obverse with the Merchant Navy logo on the reverse. As it was not an official state award, it could not be worn in uniform alongside official medals.[7]

References
  1. "No. 62529". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 2019. p. 327.
  2. "The Previous Merchant Navy Medal". Merchant Navy Welfare Board. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  3. "Life-saving officer honoured for heroic actions". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  4. "Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service Nominations" (PDF). Department of Transport. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  5. "Lapel badge, Merchant Navy". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  6. "Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service Royal Warrant" (PDF). HM Government. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  7. "History of Merchant Navy Medal". Merchant Navy Welfare Board. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
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