awards have served as the basis for modern service medals throughout the Commonwealth: their standard design, bearing the Sovereign on the obverse and an allegory on the reverse, is a tradition that continues, most recently with the institution of the Polar Medal and the Operational Service Medal.
The first standardized bravery decoration was created in 1854 with the institution of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, followed two years later by the Victoria Cross. The VC was quite a novel development in that it was open to all ranks from private to field marshal. During the First World War, a broad range of branch specific awards for the navy, army, and air force were established.
Canada is not alone in taking much of its honours structure from Britain. In an evolutionary sense it was both logical and practical. Countries from Australia to Zimbabwe all find the general basis of their honours system in the British tradition, at least in terms of structure. Australia, Fiji, and certain other Commonwealth countries also derive the structure of their national orders from the Canadian experience.
Although influenced by the British tradition, the Canadian honours system is not simply the imperial honours system covered with maple leaves and fleurs-de-lys. There are significant differences between the Canadian and British honours systems, and between the Canadian honours system and those used in many other countries. The Canadian system is non-partisan — that is, members of the governing party are neither directly nor indirectly involved in the selection of recipients of honours. In many countries such decisions are made by the head of government (e.g., the prime minister), and thus honours invariably become a political patronage tool. In many countries it is only members of the political and social elite who are found with neck badges and medals, but not so in Canada. Canada is also one of the few countries that does not engage in automatic awards.
The focus of this study is honours that are officially sanctioned and created by the Crown at the federal and provincial levels in Canada. Official honours in Canada emanate from the Queen, who is the country’s head of state (worldwide, most national honours are created by an instrument approved by the head of state). In the case of the provinces, various honours have come into being after the granting of Royal Assent by the lieutenant governor, as personal representative of the Queen, to legislation passed by the assembly or through an order-in-council that the lieutenant governor, on behalf of the Crown, has assented to. These provincial honours are therefore deemed to emanate from the Crown in right of that particular province. Nevertheless, only when these provincial creations are incorporated into the national Order of Precedence for the wearing of orders, decorations, or medals can it be said that they have been officially recognized by the Queen in Right of Canada and can therefore be worn along with other official honours from the Crown.
Similarly, other honours such as U.N. and NATO service medals come from recognized head of state level organizations that the Crown in Right of Canada has agreed to recognize, along with their associated rules and regulations, and incorporate into the national Order of Precedence so they can be worn with official Canadian honours.
These incorporations in the official order of wear, however, do not make these honours, either provincial or organizational, formally part of the Canadian honours system, nor do they imply that they are awarded by or on behalf of the Queen. Only those honours that are created by and awarded on behalf of the Queen in Right of Canada are part of the Canadian honours system, while the Order of Precedence allows for the official wearing of a wider array of honours that are “recognized” by the Crown of Canada.
Unofficial honours (see chapter 39), that is, those honours not recognized by the Government of Canada, including provincial (and even municipal) honours that have not been sanctioned for wear by the Government of Canada, are only peripherally referenced herein.
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HONOURS IN CANADA FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
Honours in Canada to 1759
The modern Canadian honours system can find some of its origins in those of two of Canada’s founding peoples: the French and British honours systems. Canada’s Native peoples did not have a formal honours system in the sense of an institution. Rather, the concept of honour was more prized than any particular insignia or possession. Service to the community and bravery were recognized in Native communities not by gold or silver medals but through respect accorded to the individual often through the adoption of a chieftainship. When Europeans arrived, this system was complemented through the awarding of Chief’s Medals, which French and British officials both used to secure the loyalty of a particular Native group. This process was not unidirectional; Native peoples quickly learned how to extract better terms and conditions for themselves when accepting such medals from Europeans.
The Honours of Royal France in Canada
Prior to the French Revolution, the Kingdom of France possessed a comprehensive honours system, primarily graded by the hierarchy of French society at the time. The king of France would elevate French subjects to the nobility as dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts, and barons. On one occasion a Canadian, Charles Le Moyne, Seigneur of Longueuil, was made Baron de Longueuil in recognition of his peace negotiations with the Iroquois on behalf of the French Crown. Le Moyne would later go on to serve as governor of Montreal. This now-ancient French title still exists, though the family no longer lives in Canada.
In New France honours were awarded by the governor on behalf of the king. Prior to an honour being bestowed, the governor of New France had to receive permission from the French sovereign. The advice of the governor general was usually followed, though there were occasions when the king of France bestowed an honour without the prior knowledge of the governor. This was, after all, his prerogative as king.
Commander of the Order of St. Louis.
Looking for a way to motivate and reward all the officers of his armies for outstanding and long services, Louis XIV established the Ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis in April 1693. For the subjects of New France this was the most familiar honour, and it became an immediate success. The order gained the favour of all and was seen as a very prestigious honour, since the deserving officer would wear the same insignia as worn by a marshal of France or, even better, the king himself! It was the first military reward in modern history open to officers in the army or navy regardless of social status. However, it was awarded only to Roman Catholic officers. The order consisted of three classes: Knight (with no limit on overall membership), Commander (with a maximum of twenty-four living members), and Grand Cross (with a maximum of eight living members).[1] After the French Revolution, the order was abolished by the Convention in 1792, though it continued to be used by the government in exile and was revived following the first Restoration and finally discontinued in 1830 by King Louis-Philippe. Nearly three hundred appointments to the order were made to people associated with Canada, either French-born officers serving in New France, Canadian-born officers serving in New France, or Canadian-born officers serving in France during or after the fall of New France.
Comte de Frontenac, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Louis, governor general of New France.
The first officer to be appointed to the order was the governor of Montreal, Louis-Hector de Callière, in 1694. Louis de Buade, comte de Frontenac and governor of New France, was the second, in 1697. The best-known Canadian subject to receive the Order of St. Louis was François Coulon de Villers. Born in Verchéres, New France, in 1712, Coulon de Villers went on to serve with great distinction in the French colonial army. In the battle for Fort Necessity on July 4, 1757, Coulon de Villers became the only man to ever defeat George Washington in battle. The last governor general of New France, Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial,
