The Medal of Merit is an award of the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 which comes in three grades, the First Grade being the highest. It awards people for service to the Republic in a number of different public arenas, including: "the economy, science, technology, culture, arts, sports, enlightenment and education, defense and security of the state and the people".

Appearance

The medal itself is a simple breast ribbon, primarily gold in color, with thin, violet stripes running the vertical length of the ribbon. The number of stripes indicates the grade of the medal; a single stripe indicates the highest grade, while three stripes mark the lowest grade. The medals themselves are of identical design, with the official symbol of the Medal of Merit, and the inscription "ZA ZÁSLUHY" ("For Meritorious Service"), on the obverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...

 and the Greater Coat of Arms of the Czech Republic on the reverse. The type of metal used further indicates the grade; Gilded silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 is used for First Grade, silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 for Second, and bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

for Third.

History

The Medal of Merit was originally created by the Parliament of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic in 1990. However, no one was awarded the medal prior to its reauthorization by the Parliament of the Czech Republic.