On 6 June 1953 Hillary was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal the same year . On 6 February 1987 , he was the fourth appointee to the Order of New Zealand . He was also awarded the Polar Medal in 1958 for his part in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition , the Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu , 1st Class of the Kingdom of Nepal in 1953 , and the Coronation Medal in 1975 . On 22 April 1995 Hillary was appointed Knight Companion of The Most Noble Order of the Garter . On 17 June 2004 Hillary was awarded Commander 's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland . The Government of India conferred on him its second highest civilian award , the Padma Vibhushan , posthumously , in 2008
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
Edmund Hillary