Order of Merit, investiture width ribbon which is also used for ribbon bars when ribbons alone are worn.
Founded by King Edward VII on 26th June 1902 the Order is one of the most exclusive in the UK and has a Civil and Military Division.
All citizens of the Commonwealth realms are eligible for appointment to the Order of Merit. The membership is limited to only 24 living individuals in the order at any given time, not including honorary appointees, and new members are personally selected by the reigning monarch of the realms, currently Charles III, with the assistance of his private secretaries. There are currently no holders of the Military divison.
Honorary members form another group, to which there is no numerical limit, though such appointments are rare; individuals from countries in the Commonwealth of Nations that are not headed by King Charles are therefore considered foreigners, and thus are granted only honorary admissions, such as Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa.
Upon admission into the Order of Merit, members are entitled to use the post-nominal letters OM and are entrusted with the badge of the order which, for those appointed to the Order after 1991 has to be returned upon their death.
