God Defend New Zealand

We now know the details of New Zealand's 2010 , New Year's Honours List and I thought it might be worth reflecting on the New Zealand honours system. (This article links to a good graphic of images of NZ honours.)

Like the UK and Canada, NZ has an elaborate array of orders. However, unlike Canada, or the honours systems of Carribean realms such as Barbados or Jamaica, they seek to replicate the types of awards available to British subjects available in UK territories.

The Order of New Zealand, for example, seeks to replicate the Order of Companions of Honour. More particularly, the ONZ has become an honour like the CH that New Zealand knew. Most Kiwi recipients of the CH in the second half of the 20th century were former PMs - Holyoake, Marshall, Muldoon, Lange, etc. So it is in that tradition we see that Helen Clark, the former Labour PM and the woman who ended knighthoods from 2000 to 2009, has been made ONZ today. She joins other former living PMs such as Jim Bolger and Mike Moore.

The backbone of the system is the New Zealand Order of Merit. A full five-class order, its insignia remind one of the Order of the British Empire, and also covers awards previously given under the Orders of the Bath and St Michael & St George after a 1996 review. Titular knights and dames were restored in 2009 by Prime Minister Key. Perhaps today's most famous new KNZM is Sir Peter Jackson, director of "The Lord of the Rings".

Finally, the Queen's Service Order (QSO) and its medal (QSM) is the oldest NZ order, founded in 1975. It is similar to the old Imperial Service Order, although it has a broader remit than the old ISO. Awarded for public and community services, its distinctive zigzag Maori-based ribbon stands out when worn by members of the royal family in uniform. The QSO has in the past also been awarded to a number of former private secretaries to the Queen. We await the UK list.