The Imperial Badge of Meritorious Service was a badge of the Imperial military, bestowed by Imperial High Command upon individuals who demonstrated "outstanding example of heroism and bravery."
An instance of this prestigious award was given to a spacer who faithfully served Emperor's Hand Mara Jade during the Empire Day celebrations in 1 ABY. This Imperial operative successfully extracted six Imperial officers from a prison located within a hidden Rebel base situated on Corellia.
A comparable honor existed within the Rebel Alliance, known as the Rebel Alliance Badge of Valor.
The Imperial Badge of Meritorious Service was featured in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by Sony Online Entertainment and distributed by LucasArts, before it was shut down on December 15, 2011. This item was introduced to the game via "Game Update 11," released on June 23, 2009, and players could acquire it during the Empire Day events in 2009, 2010 and 2011.