View source for Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox award
| name             = Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand)
| image            = Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand) Victoria.jpg
| image_size       = 300px
| caption          = Queen Victoria version
| presenter       = [[Queen Victoria|the Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India]]
| country          = [[File:Flag of New Zealand.svg|25px]] New Zealand
| type             = [[Military awards and decorations|Medal]] for long service and meritorious service
| eligibility      = Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers of the [[New Zealand Defence Force]]
| awarded_for              = Twenty one years of long and meritorious service<ref name=medals.nzdf>{{cite web|title=New Zealand Long Service and Good Conduct Medals - the New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal|url=http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/category/e/e1.html|work=Medals Awarded to New Zealand Military Personnel|publisher=New Zealand Defence Force|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref>
| campaign         =
| status           = To be superseded by the [[New Zealand Defence Meritorious Service Medal]]<ref name=medalsnews/>
| description      =
| motto            =
| clasps           =
| post-nominals    =
| established      = 28 April 1898
| firstawarded      =
| lastawarded       =
| total_awarded            =
| total_awarded_posthumously       =
| total_recipients       =
| precedence_label =
| individual       =
| higher           = [[New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal]]<ref name="OrderofWear">{{cite web|title=THE WEARING OF MEDALS IN NEW ZEALAND TABLE – A GUIDE TO THE CORRECT ORDER OF WEAR |publisher=[[New Zealand Defence Force]] |url=http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/info/orderofwear.html#msm |accessdate=19 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225092758/http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/info/orderofwear.html |archivedate=25 February 2009 }}</ref>
| same             = [[Meritorious Service Medal (United Kingdom)]]<br />[[Meritorious Service Medal (Cape of Good Hope)]]
| lower            = [[New Zealand Armed Forces Award]]
| related          =
| image2           = [[File:Meritorious Service Medal (NZ).png|x29px]]
| caption2         = Ribbon bar
}}
The '''New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal''' is a [[New Zealand Meritorious & Long Service Awards|meritorious and long service award]] for members of the [[New Zealand Defence Force]]. Initially established on 28 April 1898 as the Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand), only members of the New Zealand Army were eligible for award. In 1985, a Royal Warrant established the current criteria for the medal making all members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force eligible for the award.  Members of the defence forces above the rank of sergeant, who have at least 21 years of service, and hold their service's Long Service and Good Conduct Medal are eligible for the medal. The New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal is to be replaced by the [[New Zealand Defence Meritorious Service Medal]], though holders of the superseded medal are still entitled to continue wearing it.<ref name=medalsnews>{{cite web|title=Defence Meritorious Service Medal Introduced |url=http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/news/#dmsm2|work=medals.nzdf.mil.nz|publisher=New Zealand Defence Force |accessdate=9 November 2013}}</ref>
==Appearance==
[[File:Meritorious Service Medal (New Zealand) Edward VII.jpg|thumb|left|King Edward VII version]]
The medal is [[silver]] and circular in shape.  The [[obverse and reverse|obverse]] bears the effigy of the [[Queen of New Zealand|Sovereign]] of [[Realm of New Zealand|New Zealand]], surrounded by the inscription ''ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID. DEF.'' The reverse bears the inscription ''For Meritorious Service'' surrounded by a laurel wreath, surmounted by a royal crown.  Above the crown is the inscription ''New Zealand''.<ref name=warrant>{{cite web|title=The New Zealand Meritorious Service Medal Royal Warrant|url=http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/warrants/e1warrant.html|publisher=New Zealand Defence Force|accessdate=22 January 2013}}</ref>
The medal is suspended by a ribbon, 32&nbsp;mm in width, of crimson with a narrow centre stripe of green.<ref name=medals.nzdf/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{NZ Long & Meritorious Service Medals}}
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand Meritorious & Long Service Awards]]
[[Category:Long and Meritorious Service Medals of Britain and the Commonwealth]]