It's been half a century since Australian Olympian Peter Norman stood with American athletes on the podium as they gave the black power salute at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Yet it's one of the most revered images of the Olympics, and the legacy of the man who came second.

Norman has posthumously been honoured with the Australian Olympic Committee's highest accolade, the Order of Merit, in a private ceremony filled with family, friends and Olympians at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne on Friday night.

Peter Norman in 2000 and, inset, receiving his medal in 1968 in Mexico. Credit:Eamon Gallaghaer

Norman famously stood on the victory dais with the 200m gold and bronze medallists, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the "Black Power Salute" to protest the lack of rights given to African Americans.