In 1917, five years after the death of the founder of the Salvation Army

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

 William Booth

William Booth

William Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...

, his son, General Bramwell Booth

Bramwell Booth

Bramwell Booth, CH was the first Chief of Staff and the second General of The Salvation Army , succeeding his father, William Booth.-Biography:...

, inaugurated the Order of the Founder to recognise Salvationists who had rendered distinguished service, such as would have specially commended itself to the Founder.

The first awards were made in 1920 to 15 officers and one soldier. Three years later, seven officers and one local officer were honored, but since then the awards have been made much more sparingly and, to date, 104 officers and 106 lay Salvationists have been recognised with the Army's highest honor, a mere 210 in total over 83 years.

The first presentation was to a soldier, Private Herbert Bourne, for outstanding Christian witness and service during military service in the First World War. A few senior leaders like Commissioner T. Henry Howard

T. Henry Howard

Commissioner Thomas Henry Howard OF was the Second Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army, succeeding Bramwell Booth on his appointment as General on the death of his father William Booth in 1912....

, General Evangeline Booth

Evangeline Booth

General Evangeline Cory Booth was the 4th General of the Salvation Army from 1934 to 1939. She was its first female General.-Early life:...

 and Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth

Catherine Bramwell-Booth

Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth CBE, OF, born Catherine Booth Booth , Salvation Army officer, was one of seven children born to General Bramwell Booth and Florence Eleanor Soper, and was the granddaughter of the Salvation Army's Founder, General William Booth and his wife Catherine Mumford,...

 have been picked out but. much more commonly, faithful and devoted service by less well known personalities has been acknowledged.

Some of the early awards went to people in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and the USA, but very quickly recipients from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, The Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 were picked out. New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 has probably had a higher than average recognition for the size of its population, but other territories such as Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, South America West and Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

 have also been featured.

The honor is rarely given because every nomination is carefully and painstakingly scrutinised by a panel of senior leaders at IHQ. Salvationists have every reason to be proud of those who have been awarded this outstanding recognition for meritorious Christian example, witness and service.

The recipients of the order are:

Name	Rank	Region	Date
ADAMS Bernard	Colonel	British Territory	1975
ALEXANDER Alex	Major	British Territory	1926
ANDERSON Mary	Major	Australia Southern	1944
BECQUET Henri L	Lt-Commissioner	Belgium	1955
BEEK Anna M. J. A	Colonel	The Netherlands	1990
BENACK George	Captain	USA Eastern	1920
BENJAMIN Ruth (Mrs)	Major	Bermuda	1982
BLANCO Atanasio	Envoy	South America East	1971
BLOWERS Arthur R	Commissioner	British Territory	1937
BOIJE Helmy	Staff-Captain	Finland	1920
BOMAN Gustaf E		Sweden	1924
BOOTH Evangeline C Evangeline Booth General Evangeline Cory Booth was the 4th General of the Salvation Army from 1934 to 1939. She was its first female General.-Early life:...	Commander - in - Chief	USA	1930
BOOTH-HELLBERG Lucy (Mrs)	Commissioner	British Territory	1933
BOOTH-TUCKER Frederick	Commissioner	India	1920
BOSSHARDT Alida M	Major	The Netherlands	1962
BOURN Herbert J		British Territory	1920
BOYD John (Sir)		British Territory	1981
BRADWELL Cyril	Corps Sergeant Major (Rtd )	New Zealand and Fiji	1993
BRAMWELL- BOOTH Catherine	Commissioner	British Territory	1983
BRAUND Ralph C	YPSM	Canada	1940
BRENGLE Samuel L	Commissioner	USA Eastern	1935
BROKENSHIRE Nora	Brigadier	Canada	1964
BROUWER Jacob G	Lt-Colonel	The Netherlands	1931
BROWN Jean ( Mrs)	Envoy	Canada and Bermuda	1978
BROWN Cecil	Major	USA Southern	1947
BROWN Jean	Major	Canada and Bermuda	1988
BUICK Steven	Envoy	New Zealand	1925
BURTON Kenneth	CSM	USA Eastern	2004
BYWATERS Stella	Brigadier	Australia Southern	1978
CANNELL Thomas H	Corps Secretary	British Territory	1932
CARLETON John A.	Commissioner	British Territory	1920
CARREL Francoise	Adjutant	France	1920
CARROLL Mary Jane	Corps Sergeant Major	British Territory	1955
CASTILLO Ambrose	Sergeant	South America East	1965
CHANDLER W. George	Corps Sergeant Major	British Territory	1949
CHU Suet-King	Envoy	Hong Kong	1976
CODOY Carolina (Mrs)		The Philippines	2000
COLLETT Richard	Envoy	Australia	2007
COLLEY William	Envoy	New Zealand	1943
COLLIER Delilah (Mrs)	Home League Secretary	USA Eastern	2002
COOK A. Bramwell (Dr)	Lt-Commissioner	New Zealand and Fiji	1983
COX Sydney W	Bandmaster	British Territory	1942
COX Kathryn	Major	USA Southern	2000
COXHEAD Frederick J	Corps Sergeant Major	British Territory	1931
CROCKER James	Envoy	Australia Eastern	1960
CROCKER Tom	Senior-Captain	USA Central	1952
DALZIEL Geoffrey		Australia	2005
DARTHUAMA Pu		India Eastern	2000
DAVIDOVITCH Nina		Eastern Europe	2005
DAVIES Bessie (Mrs)		British Territory	1927
de NESFIELD Odessa Marshall	Corps Sergeant Major	Latin America North	1991
DeARMAN Billie Jean	Major	USA Southern	1992
DEGOUMOIS Lydia	Sergeant	France	1967
DEWE Herbert	Corps Sergeant Major	New Zealand	1969
DINSDALE George	Corps Sergeant Major	Canada	1944
DOCTER Robert (Dr)	Corps Sergeant Major	USA Western	1992
DUNLAP Eva	Sister	USA Eastern	1946
FAGERLIE Martin	Brigadier	Norway	1953
FITCH Polly	Sister	Canada	1943
FOSTER George	Bandmaster	USA Eastern	1951
FRASER Jeannie (Mrs)	Corps Treasurer (Rtd)	Scotland	1979
FULLER George W	Colonel	British Territory	1943
FULLER Rebecca (Mrs)	Corps Secretary	South Africa	1966
FURSENKO Vladimir Mikhailovich		Russia	1993
GALE Laura	Brigadier	British Territory	1976
GARIEPY Henry	Colonel	USA Eastern	2007
GAUGLER Lucie	Captain	France	1920
GEBBIE Eleanor	Brigadier	British Territory	1973
GEDDES Charles M	Brigadier	Australia Eastern	1976
GERMANY Pat	YPSM	USA South	2003
GOGIBUS Georgette	Major	France	1958
GOKSOYR Jorun	Major	Norway, Iceland & Færoes	2001
GOODING Edward	Corps Sergeant Major	USA Eastern	1980
GORDON Annie	Major	New Zealand	1945
GORE John	Adjutant	Australia Southern	1924
GORSKA Marija	Major	Sweden and Latvia	1991
GOVAARS Gerrit J	Colonel	Holland	1947
GREEN Jack	Bandmaster	Canada and Bermuda	1978
GREEN Thomas	Envoy	British Territory	1923
GUERRERO Raul		USA Western	2001
HARTMAN Karin	Lt-Colonel	Sweden	2001
HAZELL George	Envoy	Australia Eastern	1993
HED Per	Brigadier	Sweden	1920
HERJE Anne Kristine	Major	Norway	2004
HIGGINS Ernest D	Lt-Colonel	USA Western	1954
HILE Kenneth	Corps Treasurer (Rtd)	Australia Eastern	1980
HIMES William F	Bandmaster	USA Central	2000
HINE Catherine	Adjutant	British Territory	1920
HODGE Thomas	Corps Sergeant Major	Australia Eastern	1925
HODGEN Jeanetta	Major	USA Western	1944
HOLLAND Arthur	Commissioner	British Territory	1991
HOLZ E. R. (Mrs)	Brigadier	USA Southern	1987
HOPPER Keith	Envoy	Australia Eastern	1978
HOWARD T. Henry T. Henry Howard Commissioner Thomas Henry Howard OF was the Second Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army, succeeding Bramwell Booth on his appointment as General on the death of his father William Booth in 1912....	Commissioner	British Territory	1920
IRWIN John	Brigadier	Australia Eastern	1970
IWASA Rin (Dr)	Adjutant	Japan	1923
JENSON Henry Kragh	Bandmaster	Denmark	1962
JEWKES Frederick E	Colonel	British Territory	1961
JOHANSSON Gustaf		Sweden	1924
JONSSON Hulda	Brigadier	Sweden	1977
JOSEPH Hendrik Mangindaan	Envoy	Indonesia	1970
KHUMA Kawl	Lt-Colonel	India North Eastern	1966
KHUMALO Mzilikazi		South Africa	2001
KIM Hyun-Sook	Envoy	Korea	1990
KIRBY Leonard	Colonel	Canada and Bermuda	1982
KIRBY Leonard	Major	Canada and Bermuda	1972
KIVINIEMI Julia	Corps Secretary	Finland	1972
KJØLNER Egil Egil Kjølner Egil Kjølner was a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party.He was born in Fredrikstad, but moved to Bærum in 1927. He was a member of Bærum municipal council for twenty years and Akershus county council for eight years...	Corps Sergeant Major	Norway	1984
KNIGHTLEY Brian	Lt-Colonel	UK	2004
KNIGHTLEY Dorothy	Lt-Colonel	UK	2004
KORBEL Josef	Brigadier	Czechoslovakia	1990
KRIDER George	Corps Treasurer	USA Eastern	1985
KRISTANO Ajub	Corps Sergeant Major	Indonesia	1974
KROEKER Levina	Lt-Colonel	Canada and Bermuda	1990
KUNZ Victor (Dr)	Corps Sergeant Major	Switzerland	1953
LALZUALA	Corps Sergeant Major	India Eastern	1993
LAMB David C	Commissioner	Scotland and Ireland	1939
LARSSON Karl	Commissioner	Sweden	1949
LAUDUN Ferraez (Mrs Ruby)	Soldier	USA Southern	1983
LAUTIER Marguerite	Major	France	2000
LEWIS Mother Ida		USA Central	1944
LJUNGQVIST Erik	Corps Sergeant Major	Sweden	1952
LORD Olive	Envoy	New Zealand	1969
LUCAS Bramwell	Colonel	Australia Eastern	2001
McBRIDE Donald G	Corps Sergeant Major	Canada and Bermuda	1988
McBRIDE H. Joan (Mrs)		Canada and Bermuda	1988
McCLINTOCK Walter	Envoy	USA Central	1988
MacFARLANE James	Corps Sergeant Major	Canada and Bermuda	1975
McILVEEN Arthur W	Brigadier	Australia Eastern	1967
McKENZIE William	Lt-Colonel	Australia Southern	1920
McLEOD Norman	Staff Bandmaster	Australia Southern	1955
MANSON William	Captain	British Territory	1920
MARSDAL Bård	Corps Sergeant Major	Norway	1972
MARSHALL George	Bandmaster	British Territory	1951
MATSUDA Sanya (Dr)		Japan	1924
MATUNJWA Joel Mbambo	Major	South Africa	1942
MEECH Alice	Corps Treasurer	British Territory	1961
MERRITT Violet	Brigadier	British Territory	2000
MILANS Henry F		USA	1942
MOORE May (Mrs)	Senior Field-Captain	Canada	1971
MORGAN Harold	Bandmaster (Rtd)	Australia Eastern	1981
NDODA David Elijah Zenzeleni	Envoy	Zimbabwe	1997
NELANDER Eric	Corps Sergeant Major	Sweden	1974
NERY Jorge	Lt-Colonel	South America West	1978
NEWTON Charles	Field-Adjutant	Canada	1946
NGUGI Joshua	Commissioner	East Africa	1998
NHARI Lilian (Mrs)	Brigadier	Rhodesia	1976
NISIEWICZ Mary	Brigadier	USA Eastern	1979
NOBLE William A (Dr)	Colonel	USA Southern	1957
OHARA Tamokichi	Envoy	Japan	1961
ORELLANA Luis	Envoy	South America West	1962
OUCHTERLONY Hanna	Commissioner	Sweden	1923
OVESEN Emil	Staff-Captain	Norway	1925
OZANNE Marie	Major	British Territory	1947
PACQUETTE Catherine	Major	Caribbean	2006
PAIGE Clara	YPSM	USA Southern	1989
PALMER Robert Henry	Envoy	Australia Southern	1952
PARSELL Lily May (Mrs)	Corps Sergeant Major	Australia Southern	1984
PATHAM Yesu (Walter Keil)	Lt-Colonel	India Western	1923
PEACOCKE Elizabeth	Brigadier	Canada and Bermuda	2000
PEDERSEN Victor Barrett	Brigadier	Australia Southern	1999
PEDLAR Edwin Clendennam	Envoy	Canada	1945
PEETERMAN Gerardus C	Envoy	Holland	1940
PERIESWAMI Saratha	Lt-Colonel	Burma	1989
PESATORI Mario	Staff-Captain	Italy	1928
POTTINGER Hester	Guard Leader	USA Central	1974
PUNCHARD Alfred W	National Bandmaster	British Territory	1937
PURDUE Gertrude	Brigadier	USA South	2005
PURKIS Daniel	Ensign	British Territory	1920
RADER Damon	Lt-Colonel	USA Eastern	2002
RADER Lyell	Lt-Colonel	USA Eastern	1984
RANDALL Edward G	Envoy	Australia Eastern	1981
RASMUSSEN Tora E	Major	Denmark	1992
RICE R. Eugene	Lieut-Colonel	USA West	2004
RICHES Lucy	Sister	British Territory	1976
RIDGERS Pamela (Mrs)	Over-60 Club Secretary	British Territory	1981
RIVE Faye	Lieut-Colonel	New Zealand and Fiji	2004
RIVE Lance	Lieut-Colonel	New Zealand and Fiji	2004
RIVE Philip	Lt-Colonel	New Zealand and Fiji	1988
RIVITT Dolores	Major	USA Western	2000
ROBB Anita (Mrs)	Colonel	USA Central	2001
RODIN Bertil	CSM	Latvia	2003
RÖMHILD E	YPSM	Denmark	1939
ROSTETT Henry T	Lt-Colonel	USA Central	1976
RUSSELL Mina	Lt-Colonel	USA Eastern	1992
SATTERFIELD Julius M	Brigadier	USA Southern	1954
SAULNIER Mary		Canada and Bermuda	2000
SCHOCH Ruth	Major	Switzerland	1996
SCHRALE Ids Klaas	Envoy	The Netherlands	1956
SEGAWA Yasowa	Colonel	Japan	1968
SEILS Else (Mrs)	Colonel	Germany	1986
SERVAIS Muilton Eli	Corps Sergeant Major	USA Southern	1991
SHEPHERD William	Envoy	Australia Eastern	1925
SIBILIN Marie	Corps Sergeant Major	Switzerland	1939
SIGLEY Hilda	Major	Australia	2004
SIGSWORTH Alice	Senior - Major	British Territory	1956
SIMMONS Cyril J	Corps Sergeant Major (Rtd)	Canada and Bermuda	1981
SINCLAIR John	Corps Sergeant Major	Scotland	1968
SIPLEY Clifton	Brigadier	USA Eastern	1996
SLATER Richard	Lt-Colonel	British Territory	1923
SMITH J. Allister	Colonel	British Territory	1923
SMITH Jane (Mrs)	Sister	Scotland	1959
SORENSON Helen J (Mrs)	Corps Treasurer	USA Central	1972
SOUTER George	Colonel	British Territory	1929
STAIGER Frank O	Corps Sergeant Major (Rtd)	USA Central	1981
STAINES Alan	Envoy	Australia	2007
STEADMAN-ALLEN Ray	Lt-Colonel	British Territory	2006
STEVENS Arthur James	Divisional Bandmaster	Australia Southern	1949
STEWART Christine	Ensign	British Territory	1920
STICKELLS Elizabeth Jane (Mrs)	Sister	Canada	1923
STILLWELL Harry B	Bandmaster (Rtd)	USA Western	1983
STIMPSON Alfred	Corps Treasurer	British Territory	1933
STYLES Mary	Brigadier	South Africa	1965
SU Chien-Chi	Major	Northern China	1946
SUGHANANTHAM Grace	Mrs Commissioner	India South Eastern	1988
THAIN Alex	Bandmaster	Scotland	1968
THANGKIMA C.	Corps Sergeant Major	India Northern	1990
THOMPSON (Mrs) Joseph	Sister	New Zealand	1951
THÖRNKVIST Hubert	Brigadier	Sweden	1960
TOFT Ester (Mrs)	Colonel	Sweden	1920
TURNER John William	Bandmaster	Australia Southern	1946
TWITCHIN Herbert W	Bandmaster	British Territory	1939
VALLENTGOED, Helena Dehaas		Holland	1949
VENABLES Lily	YPSM	British Territory	1979
VIVANTE Armand (Dr)	Envoy	South America East	1980
von WATTENWYL Christine	Lt-Colonel	Switzerland	1964
WALKER Wilbur	Envoy	Australia Eastern	1990
WALKLEY Maud (Mrs)	Home League Secretary	British Territory	1963
WARREN Mary	Sister	British Territory	1960
WEBB Joy	Major	British Territory	2004
WELLS Bertram	Adjutant	British Territory	1923
WHANG Sook Hyun	Envoy	Korea	1971
WHITE Polly	Sister	British Territory	1940
WILLCOX Harvey Stanley	Sgt	British Territory	1944
WILLE Vilhelm	Major	Denmark	1920
WILLIAMS Harry	Commissioner	UK	2005
YAMAMURO Gunpei	Commissioner	Japan	1937
YEE Check	Lt-Colonel	USA Western	1997
YIN Hung-Shun	Major	China	1990
ZIMMERMAN Emma	Major	Caribbean	2000