The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the
Jamaican honours system
The Jamaican honours system has developed as a unique entity since the passage of the ''National Honours and Awards Act'' by the Parliament of Jamaica in 1969 (Act No. 21 of 1969). The system is modelled largely on the British honours system, which ...
. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') in 1968. The motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service".
The Order of Distinction is conferred upon citizens of Jamaica who have rendered outstanding and important services to Jamaica, or to distinguished citizens of a country other than Jamaica."National Awards of Jamaica" , Jamaica Information Service, accessed 12 May 2015. The former are made Members of the Order, and the latter are made Honorary Members.
The Order has two ranks: the higher class of Commander, and the lower class of Officer. Commanders take place and precedence immediately after Members and Honorary Members of the
Order of Jamaica
The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system.
Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...
. A Member or Honorary Member may be promoted from the rank of Officer to that of Commander.
Commanders of the Order of Distinction are entitled to use the
post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...
CD in the case of Members, or CD (Hon.) in the case of Honorary Members. Officers of the Order of Distinction are entitled to use the post-nominal letters OD in the case of Members, or OD (Hon.) in the case of Honorary Members.
Officers
Art
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Carl Abrahams
Carl Myrie Abrahams Order of Distinction, OD (14 May 1911 – 10 April 2005) was a Jamaican painter from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, Saint Andrew Parish.
Biography
Abrahams was born in St Andrew, Jamaica to a middle class family. He began hi ...
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Gloria Escoffery
Gloria Escoffery OD (22 December 1923 – 24 April 2002) was a Jamaican painter, poet and art critic that contributed to post-colonial arts and culture during the mid-to-late 20th century.
Biography
Born in Gayle, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, ...
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Christopher González
Christopher Francis González, OD (1943 – 2 August 2008) was a Puerto Rican-Jamaican expressionistic sculptor and painter.
Biography
González was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1943. He had a Puerto Rican father and Jamaican mother. Gonzà ...
Gwendolyn Spencer
Gwendolyn Spencer, OD (26 October 1916 – 20 August 2015) was a nurse and midwife, who co-founded the Jamaican Midwives' Association. An advocate for professionalism, she was instrumental in developing training programs for midwives and establ ...
Music
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Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin (born 19 June 1932) is a Jamaican guitarist and composer who established his career while working as a session guitarist and music director for various Jamaican record labels, including Studio One and Island Records. Ranglin pl ...
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David Rodigan
David Michael "Ram Jam" Rodigan MBE OD (born 24 June 1951) is a British radio DJ who also performs as a disc jockey. Known for his selections of reggae and dancehall music, he has played on stations including Radio London, Capital 95.8, K ...
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Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary ...
Ken Boothe
Kenneth George Boothe OD (born 22 March 1948) is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appeal ...
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Jah Jerry Haynes
Jerome "Jah Jerry" Haynes OD (11 August 1921 – 13 August 2007) was a Jamaican guitarist and former member of The Skatalites.
Haynes was born in Trench Pen, presently known as Trench Town, the cultural capital of Jamaica, in 1921. He learne ...
Lloyd Brevett
Lloyd Brevett OD (1 August 1931 – 3 May 2012) was a Jamaican double bassist, songwriter, and a founding member of The Skatalites. He was a Rastafarian, and the uncle of The Melodians member, Tony Brevett.Lennie Hibbert
Lennie Hibbert OD (born Leonard Aloysius Hibbert, 12 November 1928 - 8 September 1984)tropicmusic.com was a Jamaican musician who was bandmaster at the Alpha Cottage School, and also a vibraphone virtuoso, recording two albums for Studio One.
...
Burning Spear
Winston Rodney Order of Distinction, OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian movement, Rastafarian and one of the ...
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Roland Alphonso
Roland Alphonso OD or Rolando Alphonso "The Chief Musician" (12 January 1931 – 20 November 1998)Thompson, p. 262 was a Jamaican tenor saxophonist, and one of the founding members of the Skatalites.
Biography
Born in Havana, Cuba, Alphonso c ...
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Tommy McCook
Tommy McCook (4 March 1927 – 5 May 1998) was a Jamaican saxophonist. A founding member of The Skatalites, he also directed The Supersonics for Duke Reid, and backed many sessions for Bunny Lee or with The Revolutionaries at Channel ...
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Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, songwriter and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development ...
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Phil Chen
Phillip David Chen OD (21 October 1946 – 14 December 2021) was a Jamaican bassist. He was one of Britain's most utilized session bassists during the 1970s and 1980s, including for Jeff Beck as well as for the Rod Stewart band from 1977 to 1 ...
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Gregory Isaacs
Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...
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Derrick Morgan
Derrick Morgan OD (born 27 March 1940)Walters, Basil (2012)A New Day – Songs heralding JA’s Independence", ''Jamaica Observer'', 3 June 2012, retrieved 3 June 2012 is a Jamaican musical artist who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. He w ...
Sean Paul
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...
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Rita Marley
Alfarita Constantia "Rita" Marley OJ OD ( Anderson; born 25 July 1946) is a Jamaican reggae singer. She is the widow of reggae musician Bob Marley. Along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, Rita was a member of the reggae vocal group the ...
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Judy Mowatt
Judith Veronica Mowatt, (born 1952) is a Jamaican reggae artist. As well as being a solo artist, from 1974 she was also a member of the I Threes, the trio of backing vocalists for Bob Marley & The Wailers.
Early life
Mowatt was born in Gordo ...
Yellowman
Winston Foster , (1956 or 15 January 1959) better known by the stage name Yellowman and also known as King Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a serie ...
Bounty Killer
Rodney Basil Price OD (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant fl ...
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King Jammy
Lloyd Woodrowe James (born 26 October 1947),Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer, sound system owner and record producer. He began hi ...
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Mighty Diamonds
The Mighty Diamonds were a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and were best known for their 1976 debut album, '' Right Time'', produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, and the 1979 ...
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Lord Creator
Kentrick Patrick OD (21 August 1935 – 30 June 2023), known professionally as Lord Creator, was a Trinidadian calypso, R&B, ska, and rocksteady musician and singer. Alongside Cuban-born Roland Alphonso, Barbadian Jackie Opel and fellow T ...
Politics
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St. William Grant
William Wellington Wellwood Grant Order of Distinction, OD (1894 – 27 August 1977) was a Jamaican labour activist. He was known as "St. William Grant", "St." presumably meaning "Sergeant" in reference to his military or UNIA service.
He is reg ...
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Gladstone Mills
Gladstone Mills OJ OD (12 February 1920 – 26 September 2004)Rose, DionneProfessor "Gladstone Mills dies" ''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 September 2004. . was a Jamaican academic, sportsman, and public servant.
Early life
Born in Clarendon, Jama ...
Hazel Monteith
Hazel Conupe Monteith, O.D., J.P. ( Williams; 19 June 1917 – 22 May 2012) was an Afro-Jamaican consumer rights advocate, radio personality and social worker. Graduating from the first course in social work offered by the University of the We ...
* Noel Earl Alexander
Sport
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Jimmy Adams
James Clive Adams Order of Distinction, OD (born 9 January 1968) is a former Jamaican cricketer, who represented the West Indian cricket team, West Indies as player and Captain (cricket), captain during his career. He was a left-handed batsma ...
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Gerry Alexander
Franz Copeland Murray Alexander OD (2 November 1928 – 16 April 2011), known as Gerry Alexander, was a Jamaican cricketer who played 25 Test matches for the West Indies. He was a wicket-keeper who had 90 dismissals in his 25 Test appearances ...
Chris Gayle
Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricket team, Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is wide ...
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George Headley
George Alphonso Headley Order of Distinction, OD, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (30 May 1909 – 30 November 1983) was a Jamaican cricketer who played 22 Test cricket, Test matches, mostly before World War II. Co ...
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Merlene Ottey
Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprint (running), sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 20 ...
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Stafanie Taylor
Stafanie Roxann Taylor (born 11 June 1991) is a Jamaican cricketer who is a former captain of the West Indies women's cricket team. She has represented West Indies women's cricket team, them over 250 times since her debut in 2008. A right-hand ...
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Theodore Whitmore
Theodore Eccleston Whitmore, Order of Distinction, OD, (born 5 August 1972) is a Jamaican former professional association football, footballer. He is the former head coach of Jamaica national football team, Jamaica national team.
Club career
...
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Arthur Wint
Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympi ...
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Elaine Thompson-Herah
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson-Herah (born 28 June 1992) is a Jamaican sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, she is a five-time Olympic champion, the fastest wom ...
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Shericka Jackson
Shericka Jackson (born 16 July 1994) is a Jamaican Sprint (running), sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 60 m, 100 metres, 100 m, 200 metres, 200 m, and 400 metres. In the 100 m, she’s the fifth fastest woman of all time, ...
Commanders
Biotechnology
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M. H. Ahmad
Mohammad Hussain Ahmad (born 9 January 1946), usually cited as M. H. Ahmad, is an Indian academic and professor emeritus of biotechnology at the University of the West Indies who served as the founding director of the institute's Biotechnology C ...
Fae Ellington
Fae Ellington, CD, OD, is a Jamaican media personality and lecturer best known for hosting the television series ''Morning Time'' on JBC for more than twelve years.
Background
Fae Audrey Ellington was born on 28 May 1950 in the district of Smi ...
Brian Wynter
Brian Wynter OJ (born in Jamaica, 1959) is a Jamaican banker and financial regulator, who is notable for his work with the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
Paula Llewellyn
Paula Vanessa Llewellyn Order of Distinction, CD King's Counsel, KC is a Jamaican lawyer who serves as the country's director of public prosecutions (DPP), 2008 - 2024. She is the first woman to hold the position.
Early life
Llewellyn was born ...
Music
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Coxsone Dodd
Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond.
He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent ...
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Millie Small
Millicent Dolly May Small Order of Distinction, CD (6 October 1947 – 5 May 2020) was a Jamaican singer who is best known for her international hit "My Boy Lollipop" (1964). The song reached number two in both the UK Singles Chart, UK and ...
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Bob Andy
Keith Anderson CD (28 October 1944 – 27 March 2020), better known by the stage name Bob Andy, was a Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter. He was widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters.
Early life
Anderson was bor ...
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Sonny Bradshaw
Cecil "Sonny" Bradshaw CD (28 March 1926 – 10 October 2009), known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician", was a Jamaican bandleader, trumpeter, broadcaster, and promoter who was a major figure in Jamaican music for mo ...
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Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...
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Tommy Cowan
Tommy Cowan CD (born Thomas Lincoln Cowan, 6 April 1946, Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica) is a producer and singer, initially working in reggae but later concentrating on gospel, who has been involved in the music business since the 1960s.Brooks, Sade ...
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Marcia Griffiths
Marcia Llyneth Griffiths (born 23 November 1949) is a Jamaican singer best known for the 1989 remix of her single " Electric Boogie", which serves as the music for the four-wall " Electric Slide" line dance. It is the best-selling single of ...
Byron Lee
Byron Lee , , ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 October 2008. born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee ...
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Duke Reid
Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and record label owner.
He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Tr ...
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Shaggy
Shaggy may refer to:
People
*Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer
*Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse
*Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...
* Lloyd Hall
*
Delroy Wilson
Delroy George Wilson CD (5 October 1948 – 6 March 1995)
Greene, Jo-Ann, " Delroy Wilson Biography, allmusic.com, Macrovision Corporation
was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer. Wilson is often regarded as Jamaica's first child s ...
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Monty Alexander
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was in ...
Phyllis Dillon
Phyllis Dillon (27 December 1944 – 15 April 2004) , ''
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Shabba Ranks
Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon OD (born 17 January 1966), better known by his stage name Shabba Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throu ...
Politics
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Patrick Allen Patrick Allen may refer to:
* Patrick Allen (actor) (1927–2006), British actor
* Patrick Allen (music educator) (born 1955), English author
* Patrick Allen (American football) (1961–2021), American football player
* Patrick Allen (bowler) (born ...
Audley Shaw
Audley Shaw CD MP (born 13 June 1952) is a Jamaican politician. He currently serves as Minister of Transport & Mining since January 2022. Prior to this appointment he served as the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce from September ...
Alia Atkinson
Alia Shanee Atkinson, СD (born 11 December 1988) is a Jamaican five-time Olympian and a former competitive swimmer whose international competition career spanned 19 years, 2003 to 2021 inclusive, at the senior level. At short course World S ...
FINA
World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...
''. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
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Usain Bolt
Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...
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Veronica Campbell-Brown
Veronica Campbell Brown (born 15 May 1982) is a retired Jamaican track and field sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and 200 meters. An eight-time Olympic medalist, she is the second of three women in history to win two consecutive Olym ...
Shericka Jackson
Shericka Jackson (born 16 July 1994) is a Jamaican Sprint (running), sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 60 m, 100 metres, 100 m, 200 metres, 200 m, and 400 metres. In the 100 m, she’s the fifth fastest woman of all time, ...
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Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently ...
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Donald Quarrie
Donald O'Riley Quarrie CD (born 25 February 1951) is a Jamaican former track and field athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s. At the 1976 Summer Olympics he was the gold medallist in the Olympic 200 meters and silver med ...
Khadija Shaw
Khadija Monifa "Bunny" Shaw ( ; born 31 January 1997) is a Jamaican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for FA Women's Super League, Women's Super League club Manchester City W.F. ...
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Elaine Thompson-Herah
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson-Herah (born 28 June 1992) is a Jamaican sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, she is a five-time Olympic champion, the fastest wom ...