title: Medal of Merit of the Autonomous Region of Madeira
text: # Medal of Merit of the Autonomous Region of Madeira
  
  The Medal of Merit of the Autonomous Region of Madeira is the highest honour given by the autonomous region. The medal is awarded by the Legislative Assembly of Madeira to 'natural or legal entities, public or private, national or foreign, living or posthumously, who have rendered outstanding services to the Region or who, for any other reason, the Region understands that must be distinguish ”.
  
  The honour was created by Regional Decree n. 3/79/M, signed on January 30 and published on March 24, 1979.
  
  The decision of the attribution is made by the Standing Committee of the Assembly, having received a proposal «of any of the sovereign organs of the Republic, of the Regional Government or of any member of the Legislative Assembly» and taking the opinion of the President of the Regional Government or of a Regional Secretary and of other entities in the area concerned. At the request of any Member, an vote may be taken in the plenary of the Assembly.
  
  The honour is presented by the President of the Legislative Assembly, in a solemn act defined by the Permanent Commission.
  
  The medal model must comply with the following requirements defined by law: be made of silver, have a silver filigree cord and bear, on its reverse, the cross of the Order of Christ (present on the flag and coat of arms of Madeira) and the sayings 'Autonomous Region of Madeira' and 'Portuguese Republic'.
  
  ## Receivers
  
  To date, the medal has only been awarded to five personalities, four of them Madeirans (Ornelas Camacho, Rodrigues, Jardim and Ronaldo) and two continental ones (Sá Carneiro and Bishop Santana).
  
  | Name | Date of Awarding | Notes |
  | - | - | - |
  | Francisco Antunes Santana | 1 June 1982 | Medal awarded posthumously and given to Canon Agostinho Gomes, Vicar General of the Diocese. Santana was bishop of Funchal between 1974 and 1982. |
  | Francisco Sá Carneiro | 1982 | Medal awarded posthumously and given to his eldest son. |
  | Jaime Ornelas Camacho | 2001 | First President of the Regional Government. |
  | Emanuel Rodrigues | 2001 | First President of the Legislative Assembly. |
  | Cristiano Ronaldo | 21 December 2014 | |
  | Alberto João Jardim | 4 June 2018 | Longest serving President of the Regional Government and longests serving democratically elected politician in Portugal (between 1978 until 2015). |
  