The Meritorious Service Cross () is a decoration that is, within the Canadian system of honours, one of the two Meritorious Service Decorations gifted by the Canadian monarch, his or her Governor-in-Council. Created in 1984, the medal is intended to recognize individuals—both Canadian and foreign—who have carried out meritorious acts bringing benefit and honour in either of two categories: military and civilian.

Design

The Meritorious Service Cross, for both divisions, is in the form of a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

with the arms 38 mm across, the ends splayed and rounded, a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

visible between them, and a St. Edward's Crown, as a symbol of the Canadian monarch's role as the

fount of honour The fount of honour () is a person, who, by virtue of their official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry on other persons. Origin During the High Middle Ages, European knights ...

, capping the top arm. At the cross' centre, on the obverse, is a roundel bearing a maple leaf, and on the reverse are two concentric circles, the inner one containing an etched

Royal Cypher In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country's reigning Monarch, sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a Crown (heral ...

of the reigning monarch, and the outer one engraved with the words ''MERITORIOUS SERVICE MÉRITOIRE''. This medallion is worn on the left chest, on a 32 mm wide, blue and white ribbon; however, that for the military division has only two white stripes, each 6 mm wide and centred on the outer third of each side of the ribbon, while that for the civilian division has an additional 1 mm wide white stripe centred between the other two. For men, the cross is hung from a bar, and for women, on a ribbon bow, both pinned to the left chest. Individuals awarded a second Meritorious Service Cross are granted a

medal bar A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It most commonly indicates the Military campaign, campaign or Military operation, operation the recipient received t ...

, in silver and bearing a central maple leaf, for wear on the ribbon from which the original medal is suspended.

Eligibility and receipt

The Meritorious Service Cross awarded to Joseph F

On 11 June 1984, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, on the advice of her Cabinet under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

, created the Meritorious Service Cross to recognize highly professional acts that are of considerable benefit to the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

; the civilian division was then added on 6 June 1991 (though applicable retroactively to 1984), honouring similar acts—whether in athletics, diplomatic relations, humanitarian activities, etc.—that benefit the nation. Any person, living or deceased, may be nominated for the medal: the military division is awarded to members of the Canadian Forces, or of any foreign military allied with Canada, and nominations come from commanding officers; the civilian division is open to both Canadians and foreigners, and nominations may be submitted by any person. In all cases, however, the event being recognized must have taken place in Canada or involved Canadian citizens. An award enables recipients 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 ...

''MSC'' (in French: ''CSM''). As of March 2020, the Meritorious Service Cross has been presented to 410 people; 224 have been awarded in the military division and 187 in the civilian, with Chris Hadfield having been awarded one in each category.

References

External links

* * {{Canadian Honours System Military awards and decorations of Canada Civil awards and decorations of Canada Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth

Design

Eligibility and receipt

See also

References

External links