Legion of Merit (Rhodesia)

The Legion of Merit was a Rhodesian order of merit awarded to both civilian and military recipients for service to Rhodesia.

Institution
The award was instituted in 1970 by Presidential Warrant, the first awards being made the same year. The last awards were made in June 1980. The civil class was suspended from a green and gold ribbon. The military class differed by featuring a red stripe on the green and gold ribbon.

Classes
There were five classes of the order:
 * Grand Commander (GCLM)
 * Grand Officer (GLM)
 * Commander (CLM)
 * Officer (OLM)
 * Member (MLM)

The incumbent President of Rhodesia served as Grand Master of the Legion of Merit. Recipients of the order were entitled to the post-nominal letters indicated above.

Zimbabwe
The Legion of Merit was superseded in April 1981 by the Zimbabwe Order of Merit, which is awarded to civilians as well as military personnel for eminent achievement and services to Zimbabwe.

Notable recipients
While the higher grades of the order were used almost exclusively by Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front government to reward political service, recipients of the lower and middle grades included a number of notable military leaders, community leaders and civil servants. There was a strong sex bias apparent in the award of the Rhodesian Legion of Merit; no women were ever made Grand Commander or Grand Officer; only one woman (Janet Smith, the wife of Prime Minister Ian Smith) was awarded the honour of Commander, and just two women became Officers.

There were only 4 GCLMs: Prime Minister Ian Smith, President Clifford Dupont, President John Wrathall and Cabinet Secretary Gerald Clarke.

There were 28 GLMs (Civil Division):

There was only 1 GLM (Military Division): Lieutenant-General Peter Walls.

There were 32 CLMs (Civil Division), one of whom one was Janet Smith, wife of Prime Minister Ian Smith.

There were 4 CLMs (Military Division), one of whom was Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly, commanding officer of the Selous Scouts.

There were 126 OLMs (Civil Division).

There were 35 OLMs (Military Division) and 10 OLMs (Military Division) (Combatant).

There were 300 MLMs (Civil Division), 55 MLMs (Military Division) and 10 MLMs (Military Division) (Combatant).