Order of the Companions of Honour explained
Order of the
Companions of Honour |
| Awarded By: | Charles III |
| Type: | Order |
| Established: | 4 June 1917 |
| Motto: | In Action Faithful and in Honour Clear |
| Eligibility: | All living citizens of the Commonwealth realms |
| Criteria: | Nationally important service |
| Status: | Currently constituted |
| Founder: | George V |
| Head Title: | Sovereign |
| Head: | Charles III |
| Grades: | Member (CH) |
| Date: | 1917 |
| Image Size2: | 100px |
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire.[1]
The order was originally intended to be conferred upon a limited number of persons for whom this special distinction seemed to be the most appropriate form of recognition, constituting an honour dissociated from either the acceptance of title or the classification of merit.[2] It is now described as being "awarded for having a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time".[3] The first recipients of the order were all decorated for "services in connection with the war" and were listed in The London Gazette.
Composition
The order consists of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, who is the Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour, and a maximum of 65 members. Additionally, foreigners or Commonwealth citizens from outside the Commonwealth realms may be added as honorary members. Members are organised into a single class and are appointed by the monarch of the Commonwealth realms in their capacity as sovereign of the order. While membership of the order confers no title or precedence, those inducted into the order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH.
Appointments to the order are generally made on the advice of prime ministers of the Commonwealth realms.[1] For Canadians, the advice to the Sovereign can come from a variety of officials.[4] Originally, the order was limited to 50 ordinary members, but in 1943 it was enlarged to 65, with a quota of 45 members for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two each for New Zealand and South Africa, and nine for India, Burma, and the other British colonies. The quota numbers were altered in 1970 to 47 for the United Kingdom, seven for Australia, two for New Zealand, and nine for other Commonwealth realms. The quota was adjusted again in 1975 by adding two places to the New Zealand quota and reducing the nine for the other countries to seven.[5]
Whilst still able to nominate candidates to the order, the Cabinet of Australia has effectively stopped the allocation of this award to that country's citizens in preference to other Australian honours. The last Australian member, Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, died on 20 December 2020.[6] Companions from other Commonwealth realms continue to be appointed, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, a New Zealand soprano, was given the award in 2018 and Canadian author Margaret Atwood was given the award in 2019.
Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe CH represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation.[7]
Insignia
The insignia of the order is in the form of an oval medallion, surmounted by a royal crown (but, until recently, surmounted by an imperial crown), and with a rectangular panel within, depicting on it an oak tree, a shield with the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom hanging from one branch, and, on the left, a mounted knight in armour. The insignia's blue border bears in gold letters the motto IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR, Alexander Pope's description (in iambic pentameter) in his Epistle to Mr Addison of James Craggs the Younger, later used on Craggs's monument in Westminster Abbey. Men wear the badge on a neck ribbon (red with golden border threads) and women on a bow at the left shoulder.
Current members
Members
| Member number | Name | Known for | Year of appointment | Present age |
|---|
| 1-(267) | Norman Tebbit, Baron Tebitt | Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Secretary of State for Employment | 1987 | |
| 2-(270) | | Secretary of State for the Home Department | 1992 | |
| 3-(278) | | Secretary of State for Defence | |
| 4-(282) | | Opera singer | 1993 | |
| 5-(287) | David Owen, Baron Owen | Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | 1994 | |
| 6-(289) | | Television broadcaster and conservationist | 1995 | |
| 7-(291) | Douglas Hurd, Lord Hurd of Westwell | Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
| 8-(294) | | Artist | 1997 | |
| 9-(296) | Michael Heseltine, Baron Heseltine | Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Defence | |
| 10-(297) | Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes | Governor of Hong Kong, Chairman of the BBC Trust, and Chancellor of the University of Oxford | |
| 11-(299) | | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | 1998 | |
| 12-(300) | | Artist | |
| 13-(305) | | Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada) and Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning | |
| 14-(317) | | Geophysicist | 2003 | |
| 15-(318) | | Permanent Representative to the United Nations | |
| 16-(320) | | Actress | 2005 | |
| 17-(321) | | Actor | 2007 | |
| 18-(323) | Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne | Leader of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition and Secretary of State for the Home Department | 2011 | |
| 19-(324) | | Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom | 2012 | |
| 20-(325) | Sebastian Coe, Baron Coe | President of World Athletics and Chairman of the British Olympic Association | |
| 21-(327) | | Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | 2013 | |
| 22-(328) | Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem | Chancellor of the University of St Andrews and Leader of the Liberal Democrats | |
| 23-(329) | | Curator and Director of the Tate | |
| 24-(331) | Onora O'Neill, Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve | President of the British Academy | 83 |
| 25-(333) | Kenneth Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for the Home Department | 2014 | |
| 26-(336) | | Olympic gold medallist and Lord Lieutenant of Belfast | 2015 | |
| 27-(339) | | Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales | |
| 28-(341) | | Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and National Portrait Gallery, London | 2016 | |
| 29-(343) | | Governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation | |
| 30-(344) | | United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Leader of the House of Lords and Secretary of State for International Development | |
| 31-(345) | | Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Secretary of State | |
| 32-(347) | | Director | |
| 33-(348) | | Musician | |
| 34-(349) | | Geneticist | |
| 35-(353) | | Conductor | 2017 | |
| 36-(355) | | Musician | |
| 37-(356) | J. K. Rowling | Author | |
| 38-(357) | Dame Steve Shirley | Entrepreneur and philanthropist | |
| 39-(358) | | Cook and author | |
| 40-(359) | | President of the British Academy and Chief Economist of the World Bank | |
| 41-(361) | Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg | Broadcaster and Chancellor of the University of Leeds | |
| 42-(362) | | Author | |
| 43-(363) | | Historian, author and Provost of Trinity College, Toronto | |
| 44-(364) | | Biologist | 2018 | |
| 45-(365) | Dame Kiri Te Kanawa | Opera singer | |
| 46-(366) | | Author | |
| 47-(367) | Patrick McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State for Transport | 2019 | |
| 48-(368) | | Musician | |
| 49-(369) | | Historian and President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford | |
| 50-(370) | | Fashion designer | 2020 | |
| 51-(371) | Sir David Chipperfield | Architect | |
| 52-(372) | | Geneticist and Nobel Laureate | 2021 | |
| 53-(374) | Sir Quentin Blake | Illustrator | 2022 | |
| 54-(375) | Sir Salman Rushdie | Writer | |
| 55-(376) | Dame Marina Warner | Writer | |
| 56-(377) | Sir Michael Marmot | Academic | |
| 57-(379) | | Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales | 2023 | |
| 58-(380) | Sir John Bell | President of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research | |
| 59-(381) | Ian McEwan | Author | |
| 60-(382) | Dame Anna Wintour | Media executive | |
| 61-(383) | Dame Shirley Bassey | Singer | |
| 62-(385) | | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | 2024 | |
| 63 | Vacant following the death of Peter Higgs on 8 April 2024 | | | |
| 64 | Vacant following the death of Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead on 23 April 2024 | | | |
| 65 | Vacant following the death of Dame Maggie Smith on 27 September 2024 | | | | |
Honorary Members
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: The Monarch of the Today > Queen Ann arbor to the new one w public > Honours > Companions of Honour . Royal.gov.uk . 3 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111223114812/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/CompanionsofHonour.aspx . 23 December 2011 .
- News: A New Order . . 25 August 1917 . 7 . subscription .
- Web site: The honours system: Types of honours and awards . UK Government . 22 August 2016 . 31 August 2016.
- Book: McCreery, Christopher. Christopher McCreery. The Canadian Honours System. Dundurn Press. Toronto. 2005a. 100. 978-1-55002-554-5.
- Web site: Companions of Honour. Rayment. Leigh. 7 December 2013. usurped. https://web.archive.org/web/20080926113647/http://www.leighrayment.com/misc/compofhonor.htm. 26 September 2008.
- News: Barbour . Lucy . Doug Anthony, former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, dies aged 90 . 20 December 2020 . ABC News . Australia . 20 December 2020.
- News: Coronation order of service in full . BBC News . 5 May 2023 . 6 May 2023.
