National Order of Merit (Bhutan)

National Order of Bhutan
Awarded by  Bhutan
Type	Order
Awarded for	distinguished and meritorious services to the state
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Grades	First Class Second Class Third Class
Precedence
Next (higher)	Royal Order of Bhutan
Next (lower)	Order of Great Victory of the Thunder Dragon
Ribbon bar of the order

The National Order of Merit was founded by King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck on 7 November 2008.

Award

It is awarded as reward for distinguished and meritorious services to the state.

Ranks

It is composed of three classes :

• First Class - a chest medal in gold.
• Second Class - a chest medal in silver.
• Third Class - a chest medal in bronze.

Insignia

The badge of the medal is a medallion with right-profile image of the King, inside an eight-petals stylised flower, itself inside an eight-pointed stylised star, simply hanging from a ribbon. The whole medal is in gold, silver or bronze, according to the rank (photo).

The ribbon of the medal is dark orange with lighter orange borders

Notable Recipients

• Bhutan Observer, Bhutan's first private bilingual newspaper [in Gold] (17 December 2011).
• VK Choubey, Director Finance of THPA & PHPA on 17 December 2012.The award National Order Of Merit (GOLD) has been given to him for his contribution to the promotion of Indo-Bhutan Friendship and Cooperation and development of hydropower in Bhutan.
• Sonam Kinga, Chairperson of National Council (current position), Actor and Researcher at the Center for Bhutan Studies [in Gold] (17 December 2014).
• Harald Nestroy, Ambassador and Chairman of the society Pro Bhutan (17 December 2015).
• Sanduk Ruit, Doctor, eye surgeon (17 December 2015).
• Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan [in Gold] (17 December 2016).^[1]

References

• Royal Ark, Bhutanese decorations