Birkenhead Returned Services Association (RSA)
Military Medals

The New Zealand Order of Wear Table below attempts to include past and present Military awards arranged in the correct order of precedence. Its purpose is to assist medal recipients to determine the correct order in which their medals should be mounted and worn.

Important Information about the Order of Wear Table

While every effort has been made to ensure that the Order of Precedence below is correct, there are some times when the order or wear may differ. For example, normally all foreign medals are worn after medals awarded by the Sovereign. However, when foreign awards are worn on occasions connected with the country that awarded them (for example, national day celebrations) the foreign awards should be worn in a position senior to the equivalent Sovereign's award. Foreign awards can only be worn when the Sovereign's permission has been given.

Campaign, War and United Nations medals are worn in order of the date of qualifying for the award. Medals such as the General Service Medals 1915, 1918, 1962 and 2002 are worn in date order of the campaign for which they were awarded. Because medals are awarded at different times and for different campaigns, the order of wear table needs to be interpreted for each individual medal holder.

While the medal display on this site includes only military medals and does not include honours awarded (such as the Knighthoods and other such civil awards), or other miscellaneous medals such as Coronation or Jubilee medals, Polar medals, etc. they are included in the Order of Wear shown below.

The letters shown after the name of the award are the post-nominal letters that those who hold the award may use after their name.

Order of Wear Table
1 The Victoria Cross and The Victoria Cross for New Zealand (VC)
2   The New Zealand Cross (1869) and The New Zealand Cross (NZC)
3   The George Cross (GC)
4   Knight or Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG/LG)
5   Knight or Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle (KT/LT)
6   Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)
7   Member of the Order of Merit (OM)
8   Member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ)
9   The Baronet's Badge (Bart or Bt)
10   Principal Companion and Knight or Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (PCNZM and GNZM)
11   Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
12   Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
13   Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE)
14   Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH)
15   Distinguished Companion and Knight or Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM, KNZM/DNZM)
16   Knight or Dame Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB/DCB)
17   Knight or Dame Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG/DCMG)
18   Knight or Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO/DCVO)
19   Knight or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE/DBE)
20   Knight Bachelor's Badge
21   Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)
22   Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB)
23   Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)
24   Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)
25   Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)
26   The New Zealand Gallantry Star (NZGS)
27   The New Zealand Bravery Star (NZBS)
28   Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
29   Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO)
30   Companion of the Queen's Service Order (QSO)
31   Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
32   Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
33   Companion of the Imperial Service Order (ISO)
34   Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO)
35   Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
36   Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)
37   The New Zealand Gallantry Decoration (NZGD)
38   The New Zealand Bravery Decoration (NZBD)
39   The Royal Red Cross (1st Class or Member) (RRC)
40   The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
41   The Military Cross
42   The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
43   The Air Force Cross (AFC)
44   The Royal Red Cross (2nd Class or Associate) (ARRC)
45   Bailiff or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St John (GCStJ)
46   Knight or Dame of Justice or of Grace of the Order of St John (KStJ)
47   Chaplain or Commander of the Order of St John (ChStJ/CStJ)
48   Officer of the Order of St John (OStJ)
49   Serving Brother or Serving Sister of the Order of St John (SBStJ/SSStJ)
50   Esquire of the Order of St John (EsqStJ)
51   The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM)
52   The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (CGM)
53   The George Medal (GM)
54   The Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry (QPM)
55   The Queen's Fire Service Medal for Gallantry (QFSM)
56   The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)
57   The Military Medal (MM)
58   The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM)
59   The Air Force Medal (AFM)
60   The Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM)
61   The New Zealand Gallantry Medal (NZGM)
62   The New Zealand Bravery Medal (NZBM)
63   The Royal Victorian Medal (RVM)
64   The Queen's Service Medal (QSM)
65   The New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration (DSD)
66   The British Empire Medal (BEM)
67   The Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service (QPM)
68   The Queen's Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Service (QFSM)
69   The New Zealand Medal
70   The Queen's South Africa Medal
71   The King's South Africa Medal
72   The 1914 Star (also known as the Mons Star)
73   The 1914 - 1915 Star
74   The British War Medal (1914 - 1920)
75   The Mercantile Marine War Medal
76   The Victory Medal (1914 - 1918)
77   The 1939 - 1945 Star
78   The Atlantic Star
79   The Air Crew Europe Star
80   The Africa Star
81   The Pacific Star
82   The Burma Star
83   The Italy Star
84   The France and Germany Star
85   The Defence Medal
86   The War Medal 1939 - 1945
87   The New Zealand War Service Medal
88   The New Zealand Operational Service Medal
89   The New Zealand Service Medal 1946-49
90   The Korea Medal
91   The United Nations Medal for Korea
92   The United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation Medal
93   The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan Medal
94   The United Nations Special Service Medal
95   The Naval General Service Medal 1915 - 1962
96   The General Service Medal 1918 - 1962
97   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Korea 1954-57)
98   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Warlike (Near East)
99   The United Nations Medal (UNEF)
100   The United Nations Medal (UNOGIL)
101   The United Nations Medal (ONUC)
102   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Warlike (Malaya 1960-64)
103   The General Service Medal 1962
104   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Thailand)
105   The Vietnam Medal
106   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Warlike (Vietnam)
107   The United Nations Medal (UNYOM)
108   The United Nations Medal (UNFICYP)
109   The United Nations Medal (UNIPOM)
110   The United Nations Medal (UNEFII)
111   The United Nations Medal (UNDOF)
112   The United Nations Medal (UNIFIL)
113   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Sinai)
114   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Indian Ocean)
115   The United Nations Medal (UNIMOG)
116   The United Nations Medal (UNAVEM)
117   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Peshawar)
118   The United Nations Medal (UNTAG)
119   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Warlike (Kuwait)
120   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Iraq)
121   The United Nations Medal (UNAMIC)
122   The United Nations Medal (UNTAC)
123   The United Nations Medal (UNPROFOR)
124   The United Nations Medal (UNOSOM)
125   The United Nations Medal (UNOMOZ)
126   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Somalia)
127   The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Medal for the Former Yugoslavia
128   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Mozambique)
129   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Cambodia)
130   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Rwanda)
131   The United Nations Medal (UNMIH)
132   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Bougainville)
133   The United Nations Medal (UNPREDEP)
134   The United Nations Medal (UNTAES)
135   The United Nations Medal (UNMOP)
136   The New Zealand General Service Medal 1992 - Non-Warlike (Arabian Gulf)
137   The United Nations Medal (UNOMSIL) (UNAMSIL)
138   The East Timor Medal
140   The United Nations Medal (UNAMET) (UNTAET) (UNMISET)
141   The New Zealand General Service Medal 2002 (Solomon Islands)
142   The New Zealand General Service Medal 2002 (Afghanistan)
143   The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Medal for Kosovo
144   The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Medal for Non-Article 5 Operations in the Balkans
145   The New Zealand General Service Medal 2002 (Iraq 2003)
146   The United Nations Medal (UNMIS)
147   The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Medal for the Non-Article 5 ISAF Operation in Afghanistan
148   The New Zealand General Service Medal 2002 (Timor-Leste)
149   The New Zealand Special Service Medal (Nuclear Testing)
150   The New Zealand Special Service Medal (Erebus)
151   The New Zealand Special Service Medal (Asian Tsunami)
152   The Polar Medal
153   The Imperial Service Medal
154   King George V's Silver Jubilee Medal 1935
155   King George VI's Coronation Medal 1937
156   Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Medal 1953
157   Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee Medal 1977
158   Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal 2003
159   The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
160   The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993
161   The New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal
162   The New Zealand Armed Forces Award
163   The New Zealand Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
164   The Royal New Zealand Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
165   The Royal New Zealand Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
166   The New Zealand Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
167   The New Zealand Fire Brigades Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
168   The New Zealand Traffic Service Medal
169   The New Zealand Prison Service Medal
170   The Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officer's Decoration
171   The Efficiency Decoration (ED)
172   The New Zealand Long And Efficient Service Medal
173   The Volunteer Long Service Medal
174   The Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal
175   The New Zealand Volunteer Service Medal
176   The New Zealand Territorial Service Medal
177   The Efficiency Medal
178   The Royal New Zealand Naval Reserve Decoration (RD)
179   The Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration (VRD)
180   The Royal Fleet Reserve Long Service And Good Conduct Medal
181   The Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
182   The Air Efficiency Award (AE)
183   The Queen's Medal for Champion Shots of the New Zealand Naval Forces
184   The Queen's Medal for Champion Shots of the New Zealand Military Forces
185   The Queen's Medal for Champion Shots of the New Zealand Air Forces
186   The Cadet Forces Medal
187   The Rhodesia Medal
188   The Korean War Service Medal
189   The Pingat Jasa Malaysia (PJM) Medal
190   The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) Medal
191   The South Vietnamese Campaign Medal
192   The Multinational Force and Observers Medal
193   The Zimbabwe Independence Medal
194   The Kuwait Liberation Medal

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