The Medal of Merit () is an award of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

which comes in three grades, the First Grade being the highest. It is awarded to people for service to the Republic in a number of different public areas, including: “the economy, science, technology, culture, arts, sports, enlightenment and education, defense and security of the state and the people”.Annex to Act 157/1994, regarding the Medal of Merit
/ref> The medal was designed by Jiří Harcuba.

Appearance

The insignia composes of a simple breast ribbon, primarily yellow-gold in color, and a medal. The ribbon has thin violet stripe(s) running the vertical length of the ribbon; the number of stripes indicates the grade of the medal: a single stripe indicates the highest grade, while three stripes mark the lowest grade. The medals for all three grades are of identical design, with the official symbol of the Medal of Merit, and the inscription “ZA ZÁSLUHY” (“For Meritorious Service”), on the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

and the Greater Coat of Arms of the Czech Republic on the reverse. The type of metal used indicates the grade: Gilded

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

is used for the First Grade,

for the Second, and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

for the Third.

History

The Medal of Merit was originally created by the Parliament of the Czechoslovak Federative Republic in 1990. However, no one was awarded the medal prior to its reauthorization by the Parliament of the Czech Republic.List of Honoured, CR Medal of Merit
/ref>

References

{{reflist Medal of Merit