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An order of merit is a visible honorific order conferred by a state, government, royal family, or other sovereign entity to an individual in recognition of military or civil merits.
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The historical background of the modern honour system of orders of merit may be traced to the emergance of orders of chivalry in the Middle Ages.
An orders of merit may be found bestowed as official distinctions by states and as dynastic orders by royal families alike. In the case of modern republics, it may constitute the highest distinction conferred by the respective state authority.
National orders of merit
Dynastic orders of merit
Defunct
References
Order of merit Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA