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The breast star of the Grand Commander of the Legion of Merit, made of silver-gilt and studded with emeralds, used to illustrate a book cover.

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

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.

There were five classes of the order:

• Grand Commander (G.C.L.M.)
• Grand Officer (G.L.M.)
• Commander (C.L.M.)
• Officer (O.L.M.)
• Member (M.L.M)

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 shown above.

The Legion of Merit was superseded in April 1981^[1] by the Zimbabwe Order of Merit, which is awarded to civilians as well as military personnel for eminent achievement and services to Zimbabwe.

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.

Recipients included:

• General Peter Walls, commander of the Rhodesian and Zimbabwean armed forces
• Colonel Ron Reid-Daly, commanding officer of the Selous Scouts

1. ^ Zimbabwe Government Statutory Instrument No. 197A of 1981, 17 April 1981.

• Orders, Medals and Decorations of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia