King's Service Order

King's Service Order
The badge of a Companion of the King's Service Order
Awarded by the Monarch of New Zealand
Established	13 March 1975
Country	New Zealand
Founder	Elizabeth II
Sovereign Head	Charles III
Post-nominals	QSO / KSO
Statistics
Last induction	3 June 2024
Total inductees	226[1]
Precedence
Next (higher)	New Zealand Bravery Star
Next (lower)	Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Related	King's Service Medal
Ribbon of the King's Service Order

The King's Service Order (created as the Queen's Service Order in 1975 and renamed in 2024), established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the public sector, whether in elected or appointed office". This order was created after a review of New Zealand's honours system in 1974. The King's Service Order replaced the Imperial Service Order in New Zealand.^[2]

The original title of the Order recognised the fact that Queen Elizabeth II was the first New Zealand monarch to be officially titled Queen of New Zealand.^[2]

On 3 May 2024, following the ascension of Charles III to the throne on the death of Elizabeth II, the order was renamed the King's Service Order (KSO). The change in name will not apply retrospectively to previously awarded badges, or affect the associated post-nominals of the recipients.^[3]