List of post-nominal letters.html



Post-nominal letters are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, office, or honour.

An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters. Honours are listed first in descending order of precedence, followed by degrees and memberships of learned societies in ascending order.

Some obsolete positions are not listed unless recipients who continue to use the post-nominals even after the order becomes obsolete are still living.

Antigua and Barbuda

[1] The Honours System of Antigua and Barbuda was created in 1998

Australia

See also: Australian Honours System

See also: Australian Honours Order of Precedence

Notes:

[1] Refers to both the Imperial Victoria Cross and the Victoria Cross for Australia. Awarding of the Imperial Victoria Cross to Australian citizens ended when the Victoria Cross for Australia was created as part of the Australian Honours System in 1991. The Australian Victoria Cross has yet to be awarded. Of the 96 Australians awarded the Victoria Cross there are two living: Edward Kenna and Keith Payne.

[2] These are Imperial awards. All Imperial awards made to Australian citizens after 5 October 1992 are classed as foreign awards, and hence such Australian citizens are not entitled to use the associated post-nominal letters. (Those who were presented with these awards before that date are still permitted to use the post-nominal letters.)

[3] In the period 1975-1991, for Australian citizens and ADF personnel, a number of Imperial awards were replaced by Australian awards:

[4] Provision for further awards at the Knight & Dame level within the Order of Australia was removed by Her Majesty The Queen on 3 March 1986 on the advice of the Prime Minister. Those who have been awarded this rank are still permitted to use the title and the post-nominal letters.

[5] Post-nominals within the Order of St John are not recognised as notified in the Governor-General’s media release of 14 August 1982.

Canada

Main article: List of post-nominal letters in Canada

Hong Kong

See also: Hong Kong honours system

[1] Those individuals who received British Honours prior to the handover may continue to wear the order and/or use the related post-nominal letters, however, these are not officially recognised by the Government of Hong Kong.

[2] Senior Counsel is a replacement for the title of Queen's Counsel. Those individuals who had achieved the status of QC may continue to employ the letters in addition to SC.

Jamaica

see also Jamaican Orders of the Societies of Honour

[1] Members of the Order of the National Hero do not use post-nominal letters. They instead "The Right Excellent" before their names and "National Hero of Jamaica" after their names.

[2] In addition to the post-nominal letters ON, members of the Order of the Nation use "The Most Honourable" before their names.

[3] Honorary Members must utilise OJ {hon} instead. Members are entitled to use "The Honourable" before their names.

[4] Honorary Appointments must use the letters CD (hon) or OD (hon).

Malta

[1] There is an additional higher Grade Companion of Honour With Collar but the post-nominal letters are the same

New Zealand

See also: New Zealand Honours System

[1] The New Zealand Order of Merit was created in 1996 to replace the Orders of the Bath, St Michael and St George, the British Empire, and the Companions of Honour, as well as the distinction of Knight Bachelor, for New Zealand recipients. The two highest levels were originally Knight/Dame Grand Companion and Knight/Dame Companion and implied knighthood. In 2000 the Queen, on the advice of Prime Minister Helen Clark, changed the titles of these levels to Principal Companion and Distinguished Companion respectively, and removed the privileges of knighthood. Those New Zealanders who were appointed to the first or second level before the change (and thus created a knight or dame) are still permitted to style themselves "Sir" or "Dame" and use the former post-nominal letters.

[2] Only those orders and decorations which are unique to New Zealand are listed, although a number of 'British' honours are still part of the New Zealand Honours System, notably those which are in the personal gift of the Sovereign, i.e. the Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Royal Victorian Order, and the Order of Merit. In addition there are many living New Zealanders who hold appointments in the orders which the New Zealand Order of Merit replaced. For a full list of honours see listing of the correct order of wear for orders, decorations and medals in New Zealand.

Papua New Guinea

See also: Awards system of Papua New Guinea

[1] Papua New Guinea created their own honours system in 2004 with the first investitures being performed by The Princess Royal in September 2005. Papua New Guinea still recognises the Imperial Honours System. [3]

Rhodesia

See also: Rhodesian honours system

[1] The Honours System of Rhodesia was superseded by the Honours System of Zimbabwe in 1981.

Solomon Islands

Sri Lanka

See also Sri Lankan national honours system

Trinidad & Tobago

See also National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago

[1] Although issued in three classes (Gold, Silver and Bronze) all three medals carry the same post-nominal letters.

United Kingdom

See also: British honours system

When listing the honours and awards enjoyed by any person it is customary to include the Order of St John, but this is a Royal Order and not a State Order, and so confers no precedence. The statutes of the order state (statute 32(2)) The letters specified … may be used … but admission or promotion to any Grade of the Order … shall not confer any rank, style, title, dignity, appellation or social precedence whatsoever.

The Grades of the Order of St John are:

Notes

1. ^ Esquire (or Esq. as a suffix) is now commonly used in the UK in place of the prefix Mr. in formal address, according to the "Dictionary of Genealogy" it has no real meaning. In the US it has in many places been assumed by lawyers, but the profession has not been awarded the title by any level of government or authority, and therefore anyone may use it. Naval officers, for example, have been traditionally referred to as such in formal correspondence.
2. ^ The letters "PC" are used only by peers. For other Privy Counsellors, "Rt. Hon." before the name suffices. The distinction is caused because peers may already hold the title "Rt. Hon." while not being a Privy Counsellor, while the same cannot be said of commoners.
3. ^ ^{a b} The exact post-nominal for university degrees varies based on the faculty in which the degree was obtained
4. ^ The title of "1st Level Registered Nurse" is comparable to the old titles of RGN, RMN etc. The title of "2nd Level Registered Nurse" refers to those previously called Enrolled Nurses. The post-nominal letters for 1st Level Registered Nurses can be used interchangeably but not together i.e. either Your Name, RN1 or Your Name, RNA NOT Your Name, RN1, RNA
5. ^ ^{a b c} There are too many religious orders, learned societies, royal academies, and professional institutions to be listed. One example is provided in each case; the format shown should be followed for other organisations, except that the initials of the organisation should be substituted.
6. ^ Most institutions awarding Fellowships also award memberships. For example, whilst FRAeS is the highest award of the Royal Aeronautical Society, CRAeS (Companion) is an equivalent status but not also including professional qualifications, MRAeS is a professionally qualified member, and AMRAeS is an associate member — reflecting a lower level of professional qualification. This pattern is common, but not universal and specific post-nominals can vary between societies.
7. ^ "Member of Parliament" is used in the UK and other Commonwealth nations to describe members of the lower house of Parliament only. In the UK, members of the House of Commons are described Members of Parliament, but members of the House of Lords are not.
8. ^ When the London Assembly was first established in 2000 there was some debate over its members post-nominal. The most commonly used where "AM", "GLA", "MLA" and "GLAM". GLA is a short form of Greater London Authority, of which the London Assembly is part. A consensus now appears to have grown up around the use of AM.
9. ^ In the Armed Forces, two or more branches may have officers with the same or similar titles, such as "Captain," which is a rank in the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Marines. To differentiate between the branches, post-nominals such as "RN" are used. However, such post-nominals are not used for the higher positions, since the higher officers are differently-titled in each branch.
10. ^ ^a