Insignia, Order and Medal of Canada

The badges, decorations and medals of Canada represent a complex system of rewards for Canadians by the monarch for actions or deeds that have benefited their environment or the country as a whole. This system, modeled on its British predecessor in the 1930s, began to fully function only during the Centenary of Canada in 1967, when the Order of Canada was established, and has since grown both in volume and in scale use, including dynastic and national orders ; state , civil and military awards and various medals for participating in campaigns . The monarch of each Canadian province also establishes various orders and medals to reward residents for activities in a particular province. Provincial awards, as well as some of their national counterparts, provide the right to use letter abbreviations after a name or garter and other symbols on personal emblems .

The monarch is considered the source of all awards : only he can establish new national awards - and the patron of all orders of Canada; he or other members of the Canadian royal family formally favor the order or award medals. In Canada, the monarch is represented by the Governor General , who also holds awards and awards awards on behalf of the monarch. In essence, the award system is managed by the Office of the Rewards at the Governor's official residence , which is part of the Secretariat of the Governor General of Canada . Also, the Governor-General, through a royal decree in the council, determines the order of seniority for wearing insignia, orders and medals.