Order of the Companions of Honour

The Order of the Companions of Honour is a British award given to citizens of the Commonwealth. It was founded by King George V in 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

Order of the Companions of Honour
Riband and badge of the "Companions of Honour"
Awarded by the sovereign of the Commonwealth realms
Type	Order
Motto	IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR
Awarded for	Nationally important service
Status	Currently awarded
Sovereign	Queen Elizabeth II
Grades (w/ post-nominals)	Companion (CH)
Established	1917
Ribbon bar of the order

Lord Tweedsmuir as Governor General of Canada wearing the Companion of Honour badge around his neck

The order is limited to 65 Companions of Honour. At first 45 members could be from the United Kingdom, 7 from Australia, 2 from New Zealand and 11 from other Commonwealth countries. Foreigners from outside the realm may be added as "honorary members". Membership of the order gives no title, or precedence, but recipients can put the post-nominal letters "CH" after their names.

The insignia of the Order consists of an oval medallion with an oak tree, a shield with the royal arms hanging from one branch, and on the left a mounted knight in armour. The badge's clear blue border bears the motto IN ACTION FAITHFUL AND IN HONOUR CLEAR. Men wear the badge on a ribbon (red with golden border threads) around their necks, and women on a bow at the left shoulder.

Current members

• Sovereign: Elizabeth II
• Members:
  1. Sir Michael Somare GCL GCMG CH CF PC (1978)
  2. Doug Anthony AC CH PC (1981)
  3. The Lord Tebbit CH PC (1987)
  4. The Lord Baker of Dorking CH PC (1992)
  5. The Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville CH PC (1992)
  6. The Lord King of Bridgwater CH PC (1992)
  7. Dame Janet Baker CH DBE (1993)
  8. The Lord Owen CH PC (1994)
  9. The Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE PC (1995)
  10. Sir David Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE FRS FZS FSA (1996)
  11. The Lord Heseltine CH PC (1997)
  12. David Hockney OM CH RA (1997)
  13. Peter Brook CH CBE (1998)
  14. Sir John Major KG CH PC (1998)
  15. The Lord Patten of Barnes CH PC (1998)
  16. Bridget Riley CH CBE (1998)
  17. John de Chastelain CH OC CMM CD (1999)
  18. Sir Harrison Birtwistle CH (2001)
  19. Sir Michael Howard OM CH CBE MC FBA (2002)
  20. The Lord Hannay of Chiswick GCMG CH (2003)
  21. James Lovelock CH CBE FRS (2003)
  22. Dan McKenzie CH FRS (2003)
  23. Dame Judi Dench CH DBE FRSA (2005)
  24. Sir Ian McKellen CH CBE (2008)
  25. The Lord Rogers of Riverside CH (2008)
  26. The Lord Howard of Lympne CH PC QC (2011)
  27. The Lord Young of Cookham Bt. CH PC (2012)
  28. Peter Higgs CH FRS FRSE (2012)
  29. The Lord Coe CH KBE (2012)
  30. The Lord Strathclyde CH PC (2013)
  31. The Lord Campbell of Pittenweem CH CBE PC QC (2013)
  32. Sir Nicholas Serota CH (2013)
  33. The Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve CH CBE FRS (2013)
  34. Dame Maggie Smith CH DBE (2014)
  35. Kenneth Clarke CH PC QC MP (2014)
  36. Lady Mary Peters LG CH DBE (2015)
  37. The Lord Young of Graffham CH PC (2015)
  38. The Lord Woolf CH PC (2015)
  39. Sir Roy Strong CH (2016)
  40. Dame Vera Lynn CH DBE (2016)
  41. The Lord Smith of Kelvin KT CH (2016)
  42. The Baroness Amos CH PC (2016)
  43. George Osborne CH PC (2016)
  44. Sir Richard Eyre CH CBE (2017)
  45. Dame Evelyn Glennie CH DBE (2017)
  46. Sir Alec Jeffreys CH FRS (2017)
  47. The Baroness Williams of Crosby CH PC (2017)
  48. Sir Terence Conran CH (2017)
  49. Sir Mark Elder CH CBE (2017)
  50. Dame Beryl Grey CH DBE (2017)
  51. Sir Paul McCartney CH MBE (2017)
  52. J. K. Rowling CH OBE (2017)
  53. Dame Stephanie Shirley CH DBE (2017)
  54. Delia Smith CH CBE (2017)
  55. The Lord Stern of Brentford CH FRS (2017)
  56. The Lord Bragg CH FRS FBA FRSL (2018)
  57. Lady Antonia Fraser CH DBE FRSL (2018)
  58. Margaret MacMillan CC CH (2018)
  59. Richard Henderson CH FRS (2018)
  60. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ONZ CH DBE AC (2018)
  61. Margaret Atwood CC CH FRSL (2019)
  62. Sir Patrick McLoughlin CH MP (2019)
  63. Sir Elton John CH CBE (2019)

• Honorary Members:
  1. Amartya Sen CH FBA (2000)
  2. Bernard Haitink CH KBE (2002)
  3. Desmond Tutu CH (2015)

Other websites

• - Order of the Companions of Honour page