[3] The Meritorious Service Medal was instituted on 19 December 1845 for the British Army, to recognise long and meritorious service by warrant officers and non-commissioned officers of the rank of sergeant and above, with a small number of early awards bestowed for gallantry.

[5] The first woman to be awarded the medal was Warrant Officer Marion Dickson Mackay, Women's Royal Army Corps, in 1966.

[3] Five members of the Chinese Labour Corps received the medal for their service during the war,[7] including First Class Ganger Yen Teng Feng who, after an explosion at a depot, spent four hours drenching unexploded stacks of ammunition with water.

[2][3] The Royal Navy's medal was instituted in 1919, for gallantry not in the face of the enemy and for meritorious service by petty officers and senior naval ratings.

[3] The Royal Air Force version of the medal was instituted in 1918, for meritorious service not involving flight.

To be awarded the MSM, an individual must have "good, faithful, valuable and meritorious service, with conduct judged to be irreproachable throughout".

[12] The medal is silver and has the sovereign's profile on the obverse, on the reverse a small crown and a wreath surrounding the inscription For Meritorious Service.