Evolution of The South African Honours System - Civil Honours

Civil Honours

The British honours system was used in South Africa for many decades, and South Africans featured regularly in the semi-annual British honours lists. South Africans also received British civilian decorations for bravery. The nationalist government stopped the conferment of titles and orders in 1925, and discontinued nominations for bravery awards after the Union's independence was recognised in 1931. It established its own bravery award a few years later, the principal award being the King's/Queen's Medal for Bravery (1939–61).

When South Africa established its own independent honours system in 1952, the Queen's Medal for Bravery was transferred to it. The medal issued to mark Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 was also ranked as a South African award, because Her Majesty was Queen of South Africa as well as of the United Kingdom and her other realms and territories.

During the 1960s and 1970s, after South Africa had become a republic, the government developed a small range of civil honours to recognise bravery and meritorious service. The most important awards were the Woltemade Decoration for Bravery (1970–88) and the Decoration for Meritorious Service (DMS) (1970–86).

The civil honours system was enlarged during the 1980s. A series of five "national orders" was established in 1986, and a Chancery of Orders was established in the Office of the State President (now 'the Presidency') to administer them. The most important order was the Order of the Southern Cross (1986-2002).

The "old South African" honours were retained for a few years after the Republic was reconstituted as a multi-racial democratic state in 1994. A new series of national orders was introduced in 2002, as part of the process of creating new national symbols, the senior order being the Order of Mapungubwe.