| King's Service Order | |
|---|---|
.jpg){kind=icon} The badge of a Companion of the King's Service Order | |
| Awarded by the Monarch of New Zealand | |
| Established | 13 March 1975 |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Founder | Elizabeth II |
| Sovereign Head | Charles III |
| Post-nominals | QSO / KSO |
| Statistics | |
| Last induction | 3 June 2024 |
| Total inductees | 226[1] |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | New Zealand Bravery Star |
| Next (lower) | Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit |
| Related | King's Service Medal |
 Ribbon of the King's Service Order | |
The King's Service Order (created as the Queen's Service Order in 1975 and renamed in 2024), established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or appointed office". This order was created after a review of New Zealand's honours system in 1974. The King's Service Order replaced the Imperial Service Order in New Zealand.[2]
The original title of the Order recognised the fact that Queen Elizabeth II was the first New Zealand monarch to be officially titled Queen of New Zealand.[2]
On 3 May 2024, following the ascension of Charles III to the throne on the death of Elizabeth II, the order was renamed the King's Service Order (KSO). The change in name will not apply retrospectively to previously awarded badges, or affect the associated post-nominals of the recipients.[3]
- ^ Medal Yearbook 2023. Honiton, Devon: Token. 2022. p. 545. ISBN 978-1-908828-63-7.
- ^ a b "The Queen's Service Order". dpmc.govt.nz. 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- ^ "New Zealand Royal Honours FAQs". www.dpmc.govt.nz. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
